Between Love and Hatred
by Rabbit '91
Summary: 10 years after Mojo's demise, Townsville briefly becomes a paradise with crime at an all time low. Then, a war breaks out between the PPG and the Rowdyruff Boys after the girls' counterparts take over half the city. It certainly doesn't help the situation when Brick starts flirting with Blossom in a bad way. BrickXBlossom. Rated T
1. Prologue

**AN: Hey y'all! I'm back with another PPG fic! :D I wanna start by saying that this is NOT a second sequel to _Fear Itself _although it'll probably have similar details and elements from it. In any case I hope you all enjoy ^^ Please no flaming or trolling, just constructive criticism. **

**Powerpuff Girls belong to good ol' Craig McCracken :)**

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**=Prologue=**

It was supposed to be a war to end all wars. A battle that would put tyranny into its grave. But it did not turn out that way. In fact, it opened a door to far greater travesties and drama that the Powerpuff Girls would ever face.

One day, Mojo Jojo kidnapped the girls' father and creator, Professor Utonium while they attended Pokey Oaks. His ultimatum: surrender themselves, and the city of Townsville or he would inject a very potent chemical into Utonium which will slowly kill him from the inside out. Of course, the girls wouldn't allow such things to happen and a threat like that to someone very close and dear to them, sent the girls over the edge.

Thus a fierce battle ensued. Lasers flew and bounced off of reflective walls, missiles launched and exploded. It quickly became chaotic. The skies went red from the raging flames.

Finally, after hours of tearing Mojo's defense mechanisms, the Powerpuff Girls broke into his volcanic observatory. As they changed at the chimp, he took the opportunity to activate the machine that would pump the poisonous distilment into the Professor. With sheer quickness and care, Buttercup and Bubbles zipped to the machine pumping the chemical and tore into it part by part. Meanwhile, Blossom went after Mojo.

The evil monkey wasn't going to go down without a fight. He gave the red headed girl a sample of his own martial arts, and then whipped out a firearm that shot lasers. But that proved to be his undoing as the weapon he wielded turned out to be highly unstable. In effect, it caused the volcano surrounding them to start erupting and shaking violently. Lava spewed out of crevasses melting and burning everything it touched while rocks and earth came tumbling down. A few struck and partially buried the machine that Utonium was wired to, along with himself and Buttercup and Bubbles. The Powerpuff leader only had to see it from the corner of her eye.

"No!" she cried out.

"Mwo ha ha ha ha!" Mojo laughed maniacally. "Your family is no more, Blossom."

A normal person could clearly see that the chimp was literally starting to lose his sanity. He grabbed ahold of his weapon to give the pink clad girl the final blow, but it spontaneously backfired and threw him 10 feet in the ensuing force straight towards a lava filling chasm created by the earthquake. Blossom tried to at least save him, but it was too late. The evil green-skinned ape tumbled down the rocky chasm, hitting the newly formed ledges like a rag doll. By the time Blossom was able to get to the pit, Mojo Jojo now lied there, battered, broken, and near death. Not even having enough strength to lift himself. Then, the volcano started to rumble again, this time more violently. Signaling a massive eruption.

In the far back, Buttercup kicked away a rock that nearly pinned her, her sister and the Professor.

"Blossom!" the lime clad girl called out. "Blossom, we've got to get out of here!"

Blossom took one last look at the fallen chimp who took his last breath.

"BLOSSOM!" Buttercup screamed.

The red headed girl finally answered her sister's calls and went over to help her, Bubbles and the Professor. Nothing could really be done for Mojo now. Both Blossom and Buttercup helped Bubbles get out of that pile rubble along with Utonium. The scientist was seriously injured by the volcanic rocks that trampled on him when they fell. Seeing that their father needed urgent medical attention, the Powerpuff Girls raced out of the crumbling observatory.

All three heroines took a look back their archenemy's lair as it finally caved in and collapsed into the volcano.


	2. Chapter 1

**=Chapter 1=**

*10 years later*

Things changed quite a bit since then. At first for the better. When word of Mojo's death went around Townsville's underworld, it created a severe drop in the crime rate. Sure there was still a bit of illegal activity, but it was now mostly done underground and in an organized fashion.

Not to say that the Powerpuff Girls virtually heard the last of their adversaries. Though they all refrained from committing crimes in the open, they still taunted the girls whenever they could.

Another big change that occurred in the past decade was the Mayor's passing. He went peacefully in his sleep, and his successor-at the girls' behest-was Miss Bellum. With her, and the Powerpuff Girls working very closely with the police and other city officials, Townsville became a much better place to live.

As for the heroic trio themselves, life surely brought its own batch of changes. Following the battle with Mojo, Professor Utonium had become paralyzed from the waist down and was now bound to a wheelchair. Bubbles had taken up the duty of caring for him. Meanwhile, Blossom and Buttercup took co-control of the household. All three of the girls were also now in high school. The transition from junior high to freshman year wasn't easy, but they managed to carry on with the change of times.

However, the peace wasn't to last forever. Since the villains assumed that the Powerpuff Girls had something to do with Mojo Jojo's death, they mostly stayed out of their way and somewhat feared them. The only ones who didn't fear the girls were of course, the Rowdyruff Boys.

HIM had by this time, pretty much left the boys on their own by default. Since the chimp's demise, he like the other villains went into semi-retirement. He also believed that with the girls alive, he might never be able to succeed in his conquest. So he bided his time and would wait until the end of the girls' natural life span to act. HIM's charges however didn't seem to agree.

"So what if that freaking monkey is dead?" Butch ranted. "We're better off without him aren't we?"

"**That is true, still, it would not be wise to pursue the Powerpuff Girls at this time.**" HIM replied.

"Easy for you to say." Boomer said.

"We're gonna give those girlies a run for their money." Brick declared.

"**Do as you please then.**" HIM relented. "**I won't try to stop you.**"

Thus what was to follow transpired into another war in which a struggle for complete control of Townsville was sired. The city was split in two and one half was ruled by the Rowdyruff Boys, particularly the half that contained the Townsville Hall. Much of the city's populace fled to the other half that was still under the jurisdiction of Miss Bellum and the Powerpuff Girls. The Rowdyruff side in effect became a dark and bleak place.

Strangely enough, the other villains like the Gangrene Gang, Fuzzy Lumpkins, and the Amoeba Boys, didn't care to move their operations to the Rowdyruffs' where they could freely roam around. They all remained underground, and even if they did shift sides, the Boys would not allow them entrance to their neck of the woods.

Even more stranger, an unexpected event occurred. Brick slowly developed amorous feelings for Blossom. At first, he was in total denial about it, and even gave his female counterpart a few extra beatings to convince himself as such. But HIM was not so easily fooled. Instead of chastising the red clad boy, the devil suggested that Brick use these newfound emotions to his advantage and for his own purposes.

With Blossom, it never once occurred to her that Brick was starting to get attracted to her. Nor was she returning the gestures. At least until after one complicated battle between the PPGs and RRBs that an angry and annoyed Buttercup told Blossom that Brick was seriously flirting with her. When the Rowdyruff leader's advances became much more apparent and serious, Blossom slowly started to come under his spell.

XXXXXXX

Another tumultuous year passed. The situation between the Powerpuff Girls and their male counterparts relaxed a little, but remained quite rocky. The girls to win back a portion of the city that was controlled by the Rowdyruffs, but the Townsville Hall remained under their control.

Home life for the girls became as edgy as their battles. While they entered the thralls of their sophomore year at high school, Buttercup had pretty much taken control of the Utonium household. Blossom was still considered the de-facto leader in the eyes of most people, but in reality, that position was slowly being shifted to Buttercup.

The fact of the matter was, that with Brick coming back and forth and interfering with the peaceful atmosphere of their lives, poor Blossom was starting to lose her nerve. The only time she really felt comfortable when Buttercup was around and couldn't stand to be alone.

Not to say that Blossom didn't confide in Bubbles. The baby blue clad girl just had enough on her plate as it was. Her time was mostly taken up by school and taking care of the Professor. As a matter of fact, it was highly important to the trio that Bubbles assume the duty and she was only ever needed during an emergency. You could say that Bubbles was a retired super hero, but in name only. The reason Blossom and Buttercup preferred to have the blonde haired girl was because Bubbles had this amazing ability to make people at ease and take their minds off the bad things happening around them.

And as far as the girls were concerned, as long as Utonium remained oblivious of the shit happening in Townsville, he remained in good health.

Returning our attention to Blossom, this girl emerging into young adulthood was turning out to be a cross between a lion and a lamb. When it came down to protecting Townsville from harm and cleaning up the streets, she could kick some ass like nobody's business. But whenever Brick came calling, the red-headed girl turned into this timid thing and often clung to Buttercup afterwards.

"Dude, you need to get yourself a boyfriend." the raven haired girl once remarked.

Which was only wishful thinking. If another boy so much as glanced at Blossom, Brick would beat the living crap out of him. But as long as Buttercup was around, he'd back off. That is, unless he had his brothers to back him up.

XXXXXXX

It was a cold November and Nature's colors went from bright and lively green to the usual autumn shades of red, orange, yellow, and brown. Blossom watched the leaves from a tree fall to the ground from a classroom window. Both she and Bubbles were in their Integrated Math class whilst Buttercup was in her English II class.

"Blossom!" Bubbles whispered harshly. "Didja hear what I said?!"

"Huh? Oh sorry, Bubbles." Blossom apologized. "What were you saying?"

"I said I'm going grocery shopping after school. So if you want or need anything be sure to write me a list."

"Oh, okay. Are you taking the Professor with you?"

"Mmm-hmmm."

After class, the sisters were joined by Buttercup as they headed to the Girls' Locker Room.

"Man that was boring!" the lime clad girl whined. "Why do we have to read _Lord of the Flies_ anyway?!"

"_Lord of the Flies_ is a great book, Buttercup." Blossom protested. "What's so boring about it?"

"Let's see...EVERYTHING!"

The trio got dressed for P.E. which was the last class of the day. Their coach wasn't in today so their sub had them do miscellaneous exercises. One group of kids, with Buttercup included, played basketball, while Blossom and another group played volleyball. Meanwhile Bubbles was socializing with a few friends over some jump rope. A half hour into the class, Blossom went over to the drinking fountains, which were next to the locker rooms, for some water.

Hiding in the locker rooms was a pair of menacing crimson eyes that had been watching the pink clad girl ever since she came out of the school building. When Blossom was taking water from the fountain, a pair of hands shot out and grabbed ahold of her. Before Blossom had time to react or scream, she was yanked into the locker room. After regaining her bearings, the red-headed girl saw, to her horror and dread, who had pulled her into the room.

"Brick! What the hell do you think you're doing here?!" Blossom rasped.

"Honestly, Red. You act like I gotta have a license to be here." Brick smugly quipped.

Sitting underneath the sinks, he pulled Blossom into his lap and nuzzled under her chin. Blossom tried squirming away from him.

"Let go of me, Brick." she demanded.

"_Let go of me, Brick._" the red clad boy mocked. "I don't think so, Red. I haven't seen ya all week."

"So?! What the hell is that supposed to mean anyway?"

"Meanin' you better freaking pray that your stupid sisters aren't smart enough to notice a thing. And if you think I'm gonna up and leave just because you want me to, get a better brain."

Then he captured his rival in a lip lock in which Blossom whimpered. She was very worried that her sisters or the sub would notice that she wasn't present amongst the rest of the class. Or worse. One of the other coaches might walk in and discover them there. The really bad part was that, Blossom couldn't really fight him like she normally would. At least not without endangering anyone else. Brick pulled her closer and started nipping at her neck, leaving behind a hickey. Blossom trembled in his hold still trying to get away.

"Mmmmm...you're all sweaty." Brick mused. "Didja play hard out there, or what?"

Blossom ignored him. She hated him right now.

'_So givin' me the ol' silent treatment huh, Red?_' the red clad boy thought. '_Well I just know how to fix that_.'

Then Brick pushed his rival clown onto the floor, pinning her there.

"Brick! What do you think you're doing?!" Blossom squeaked.

"Sssshhhhhh." Brick cooed.

The Powerpuff leader tensed up under him as her shining red hair splayed all over the floor. Blossom's heart pounded against her chest while Brick pulled her into another lip lock. The pink clad girl started squirming again in an effort to get out of Brick's arms.

"Alright, alright. I get the point." the Rowdyruff sneered. "But I'll be coming back for ya later."

With that, Brick left. It didn't take Blossom long to lift herself off of the tile floor and quickly headed back outside. Fortunately, no one seemed to realize that she was gone. Except for the group of girls that were still playing volley ball.

"Blossom!" Robin called. "Where'd you go?"

"Oh um...the bathroom." Blossom stammered.

Buttercup was still very absorbed in her basket ball match, so she wasn't aware of her red-headed sister's short disappearance. That was a good thing because then she'd give Blossom a lot of heat about not calling for help. And if the Powerpuff leader got clingy with Buttercup now, the lime clad girl would certainly see that something was up.

Finally, Blossom decided not to say anything until they got home.

XXXXXXX

The last bell rang, allowing the high school students to go home for the day. The Powerpuff Girls, as they always had, flew home. As soon as they got to their house, they found their dad pleasantly watching TV from his wheelchair.

"Oh hello, girls." he softly called out. "How was school?"

"Fine." the trio told him in unison.

Bubbles set her backpack down on the coffee table and flew over to Utonium.

"Ready to go, Professor?" she asked.

"Sure, honey." Utonium replied.

The changes that the Professor experienced apart from being wheelchair bound, was that his hair had partly grayed up, and he had to take medication for his nerves.

"I'll see you guys later." Bubbles said as she wheeled Utonium towards the drive way.

"Drive carefully!" Blossom called out from the kitchen.

As soon as they were gone, Buttercup went into the kitchen where Blossom was fixing herself an afternoon snack.

"Alright, what the hell happened?" the raven haired girl asked.

"What do you mean?" Blossom asked blankly.

"You know _exactly_ what I mean! The second half of P.E. you got all pale and freaked out."

Blossom frowned and looked down on the cutting board where she had slices of bread and cold cuts spread out.

"So spill. What's got you all wigged out?" Buttercup demanded.

There was a silence before Blossom finally spoke.

"...Brick was at the school during class." she confessed. "He pulled me into the locker room."

Buttercup looked as if she were about to blow a fuse.

"WHAT?!" she cried. "Why didn't you tell me or Bubbles?! And don't give me that '_I didn't think it was important_' crap."

"Don't you think I would if I could?!" Blossom replied. "I was lucky enough that nobody else was in there."

The lime clad girl let a frustration shout.

"Look, next time, and I don't give a shit if it's in a freaking church, if he so much as shows up, _say something!_" Buttercup exclaimed.

"Okay..." Blossom sighed.

She just wanted to forget about the whole thing already.

"Do you know what we're havin' for dinner?" Buttercup asked.

"I don't know. Whatever Bubbles and the Professor bring home, I guess." Blossom replied.


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: I apologize if this seems short. Damn writers block T-T Anyway, a reviewer was concerned on how I portray Blossom in this story as weak. But not to worry, I will have her kicking Brick's ass in this story ;)**

**Other than that, happy reading! :)**

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**=Chapter 2=**

That evening, Blossom, Bubbles, and the Professor in the kitchen while Buttercup was in the basement. Bubbles was fixing dinner as Blossom and Utonium were sitting at the dinner table. While the Powerpuff leader was doing some studying for a social studies test, the Professor watched the evening news on a small TV set. In the basement, Utonium's lab had been replaced with a make-shift gym where Buttercup would work out.

Since his injury, the girls had the Professor refrain from conducting anymore scientific experiments. It certainly beat having to go to a real gym and a lot cheaper too. After a good workout, the lime clad girl went upstairs to take a shower. Dinner tonight was Ravioli. Most of the pasta was beef, but a little bit of mushroom and cheese ravioli was set aside for Bubbles herself, since she was a vegetarian. When dinner was ready, the blonde haired girl turned to Blossom.

"Hey, Blossom?" Bubbles called out. "Could you set the table for me?"

"...yeah, sure." Blossom replied in a distracted tone.

Bubbles then saw the Powerpuff leader with her nose buried in her text book.

"Earth to Blossom, study time over. Dinner time now!"

The pink clad girl blinked a few times.

"Oh sorry, Bubbles." she said as she closed her book and headed towards the counter.

"I don't know why you even bother to study, Blossom." Bubbles said. "You're still the smartest girl in Townsville."

"I know, I know..."

Buttercup came down with a towel around her neck, drying her still damp hair.

"Smells good, Bubbles." the lime clad girl said. "I still think you oughta major in culinary arts."

"Yeah, you'd make a great cook." Blossom added.

"Thanks you guys, but I'd really like to be a zoologist." Bubbles said.

Since sophomore year began, the girls had started to look into careers. To everyone's shock and surprise, Blossom decided to become a school teacher. Everyone expected her to be involved in Government, but being inside a classroom was where the red-headed girl wanted to be. Buttercup hadn't made up her mind what her career goal would be, but she was constantly looking into opportunities.

XXXXXXX

After dinner, Blossom helped Buttercup clean up the kitchen while wheeled the Professor to bed. Since entering high school, the house went under some remodeling. The girls no longer shared a room together as they now had rooms of their own. At first, the trio was absolutely ecstatic about this, but after recent events, Blossom was beginning to hate this change.

For obvious reasons.

Mere hours after the Utonium family turned in for the night, Blossom's room was invaded by an all too familiar intruder. Somehow, he was able to get past the security system on the house, that Blossom and Buttercup installed themselves using all the recently upgraded technology, all the time.

Brick lifted up the window, being careful as not to awake a slumbering Blossom. This had to be the 35th time in the past six months that he's done this. Scary part was that nobody knew about it. For some odd reason, she kept it a secret from her family. So far, her sisters, especially Buttercup who always wakes up around 2 in the morning for some warm milk, never discovered that they had a highly unwanted house guest sleeping over. Silent as the grave, Brick climbed into Blossom's, room scowling at all the pink in the room.

Blossom was resting peacefully and bundled all tightly in her bed. Grinning sadistically from ear to ear, the Rowdyruff leader kicked off his sneakers. It was a good thing that she still had carpeting in her room. Then, Brick pulled back the blankets and sheets on his female counterpart's bed. Blossom let out a groan and shivered at the cold air that bit at her skin. Brick smirked at her choice of night ware which was a simple white T-shirt and grey sweatpants.

'_Heh, run out of matchin' PJs, Red?_' the red clad boy mentally sneered.

After climbing into her bed, Blossom began stirring, feeling the sudden extra weight. Upon fluttering her pink eyes open she caught the silhouette of Brick's shadow on her wall. Jerking up as the adrenaline started rushing through her bloodstream, Blossom attempted to fight Brick, but like many times before, he overpowered her.

"Jeez, Red." Brick ranted. "Whadja take before bed. A shot of caffeine?"

"Shut up!" Blossom rasped quietly. "Get the hell out of here!"

The Powerpuff leader tried punching him but Brick easily got ahold of her wrists and pinned them and her down on the bed. Next, the red-headed girl tried kicking him away which almost worked.

"I'm serious!" Blossom cried. "Leave!"

After a few minutes of fighting, the red clad boy sat on Blossom's legs to prevent her from kicking him. Still the pink clad girl fought to get rid of her male counterpart.

"Gee Red, what's stopping ya from zappin' me?" Brick challenged.

Blossom hatefully glared at him. The reason she never used her powers against the Rowdyruff was because if things got way out of hand, he could easily threaten the Professor. And there was no way in hell Blossom was going to put him in jeopardy. Not again.

"Just get the hell out, Brick." the Powerpuff leader spat.

"Ooo, what's with the dirty language, Red?" Brick teased.

In all honesty, Brick loved getting Blossom riled up. She looked kinda hot when she was pissed off. At least to him she did. Finally, and like all the other previous nights, Blossom wore herself out and was totally exhausted, leaving her no choice but to admit defeat.

"See where all the 'roughhousin' as they call it gets ya?" Brick sneered.

"Goo Eff yourself, Brick." Blossom growled.

"What? Can't bring yourself to actually say the word? You must really like being the Golden Girl."

"Is this what you're here for? To mock me?!"

"Meh, sorta. Your problem is, that you make yourself way too easy, Red. Plus it's a lotta fun."

Blossom let out another frustrated growl while her male counterpart start tucking themselves in.

"You do know that this is a school night, Brick?" the pink clad girl whined.

"You got a test tomorrow, Red?" the Rowdyruff asked bluntly.

"...well no. Not until Monday."

"Then there's no problem."

"Dammit, Brick. _Will you please just go_?!"

"Shhhhh. Jesus, Red. Relax willya?"

Blossom growled. She didn't know why the hell she was putting up with him. Although she didn't know it, but she was torn between fighting the enemy and keeping the peace when necessary. Unfortunately her inner pacifist was being a little too dominant than one would normally allow. Brick snuggled up to Blossom and wrapped himself around his female counterpart's form.

XXXXXXX

The other side of Townsville was dark, bleak, and mostly deserted. It seemed to be continuously under a storm cloud. The Townsville Hall had fallen into slight disrepair, and the base of the building was covered with graffiti.

The ground floor windows were nearly all broken with rock holes in every panel. There wasn't much electricity in the building anymore since most of it was cut off. Inside the old mayor's office, Brick sat in the large black leather chair, swiveling around while looking at various law books before tearing them up. Later his green clad brother with a cigarette poking out of his mouth, joined him.

"Man, it's getting pretty boring around here." Butch whined.

"Is it?" Brick replied matter of factly as he tore up another book.

"Yeah. Without much people around, there's nobody to beat the crap out of."

"Then go pound Boomer or something."

"Nah, already did that yesterday."

"Hey! I heard that!" the blue clad boy called from afar.

"By the way, have ya ever thought about bringing your damn woman to our pad?" Butch asked Brick.

"Why would I?" the Rowdyruff leader asked in reply.

"Well for whatever reason you're actin' like everything has to be all discreet or somethin'."

Brick threw another book into the air and destroyed it with his laser eyes.

"Meh, sounds like something I could do." the red clad boy mused.

"And besides, what the hell are those stupid girlies gonna do? We're runnin' this shit now."

Brick smirked deviously as the mental gears in his head began turning. Suddenly, a large spit fire appeared in the middle of the office. When it disappeared, HIM was standing in its place. Another amused grin came to Brick's features.

"Well, well, well. Come to join the party, pops?" he sneered.

"**Don't flatter yourself.**" the demon rebuked. "**I merely came to observe what became of your little venture.**"

"Well, take a look around, pops. We were able to steal their stupid city hall and without it, the good ol' Gov's gonna get harder to run."

"**I see...**"

Although he commended the boys for completing a little bit of what a typical villain couldn't accomplish in a matter of days, HIM wasn't really impressed.

"**So you've taken over nearly more than half of Townsville, doesn't really mean anything.**" HIM said.

"Doesn't mean anything?!" Butch cried in disbelief. "All the other wimps are hiding in the dirt like damn gophers and Brick's got the Powerpuff leader girl under his freakin' thumb!"

HIM looked at the red-headed boy seated in the large office chair.

"**So you actually took my advice?**" the devil deduced.

"Yeah." Brick replied simply. "And you know what? I'm finding it rather enjoyable."

"**Admirable, Brick. But I must warn you, don't let her get the better of you.**"

Brick raised a brow.

"Who the hell do ya think you're talking to, pops?" he ranted. "I ain't givin' her any satisfaction whatsoever."

HIM remained quiet after that. Although the Rowdyruffs seemed awfully sure of themselves, the demon didn't want to count his chickens before they hatched. Until the Powerpuff Girls were ultimately defeated, perhaps maybe then the boys would prove themselves of their worth.


	4. Chapter 3

**=Chapter 3=**

A few days later, Blossom was in a quiet classroom where all her classmates and herself, were engaged in a chapter test. The pink clad girl chewed slightly on her pencil before shading in the circle answers on the scantron sheet. It turned out to be a very tricky test. For Blossom anyway. But the Powerpuff leader cleared it in a breeze before the class period had even ended.

During lunch period, Buttercup accepted a challenge from the Junior Boys to a soccer match while Blossom and Bubbles joined their circle of friends in the cafeteria.

"So Blossom, how do you think you did on your Social Studies test?" Robin asked.

"Well, I'm not sure." Blossom answered honestly. "I suppose I did okay, but I'm going to have to wait until I get the test results back."

"Bet'cha 5 bucks that she got an inta-A+." Bubbles retorted with an arched brow.

Both she and Robin shared a laugh while the red-headed girl gave an annoyed expression. Then, a few minutes later, Buttercup, slightly covered in sweat, entered triumphantly into the cafeteria with a big grin plastered on her face.

"Didja beat the Junior boys, Buttercup?" Blossom asked nonchalantly.

"YOU'RE GOD DAMNED RIGHT I DID!" Buttercup gleefully exclaimed.

"Please Buttercup, language."

"Eh, whatever. Is there any pizza left?"

"I don't know. Go see for yourself."

The lime clad girl muttered something incoherent under her breath as she headed to the lunch lines.

"I can't believe after all these years, she still has a huge ego." Robin commented.

"Try living with her sometime." Blossom pointed out.

Suddenly, one of the school staff was violently hurled through the cafeteria window and crashed into a table, causing a number of the students to let out shrieks of terror. The Powerpuff Girls, quickly alerted, flew straight to the broken window to investigate. Floating around outside and laughing at their act, was none other than the Rowdyruff Boys. They proceeded to pick up school buses and toss them around like soft balls.

"HEY!" Buttercup screamed. "YOU'RE ASKING FOR TROUBLE!"

Her reply to that was her and her sisters getting pummeled by another school bus being thrown at them. The Rowdyruff Boys laughed maniacally and flew towards the gym. Nanoseconds later, the girls burst through the bus and went right after their male counterparts. Inside the Gym, Brick, Butch, and Boomer, tore apart bleachers, PE equipment, and even the basketball hoops. Then, Boomer came across a locked room and burst through the doors.

"Hey, guys!" the blue clad boy called out. "I found their stereo system!"

His brothers flew straight to him.

"Cool. What kind of tunes do these losers have?" Brick asked.

Boomer started looking through the rewritable CDs stacked on a shelf and then threw them onto the floor.

"ICK! This stuff us a bunch of crap!" Boomer complained.

Butch took one CD and instantly snapped it in two.

"God, they have shitty taste in party music."

"And you sure have bad taste in defacing school property."

The boys turned around and found the Powerpuff Girls staring them down.

"Heh, what took ya?" Brick quipped.

Instantly, the girls launched themselves at their rivals punching at whatever they could. The Rowdyruff Boys fought back, slamming the girls into the polished wood floor.

"Heh, what's the matter? We too rough on ya, girlies?" Butch gleefully sneered.

Then he and his brothers shared a laugh, while Blossom and her sisters groaned in pain on the floor.

"We need to take this outside." the pink clad girl muttered. "Aim for Boomer."

"Right." Buttercup and Bubbles murmured in unison.

In a flash, the girls zipped towards and grabbed ahold of Boomer. They whisked the blonde-haired boy all the way outdoors, hoping that his brothers would take the bait. They did. The Rowdyruff Boys followed their female counterparts outside to retrieve their blue clad brother. They fired lasers and power balls back and forth at each other. Blossom especially strove to give Brick an ass-whooping. As far as she was concerned, he deserved every bit of it. Surprising enough, Brick didn't seem to be bothered by this at all.

"Heh, what's up, Red?" he sneered. "No love lost?"

The Powerpuff leader glared at his snide remark and gave him a hell of an uppercut. Her strike sent the red-haired boy flying at least 20 feet from her position. Buttercup, who watched from afar, was slightly impressed.

'_That's it, Bloss._' the lime clad girl thought. '_Kick his ass!_'

Butch, who was also watching from afar, almost went to give Blossom and beating himself. But he held back out of respect for his brother. The Rowdyruff leader himself had put some sort of restriction on Blossom, and made it very clear that she was 'off limits' to the green clad boy and Boomer. Although it got rather irritating sometimes, Butch respected the fact that the red-headed girl was pretty much his brother's property. Then, in the midst of their batter with each other, the six titans were interrupted by large and extremely bright spotlights. The next thing they knew, they were surrounded by the Townsville police force.

"Rowdyruff Boys.." a chief of police bellowed on a megaphone. "You are violating city and government property. Surrender yourselves now, before..."

"Before what?!" Brick challenged. "What the fuck are you losers gonna do?"

"Oh gee, I don't know. Maybe kick your ass?!" Buttercup retorted.

"Sez you..." Butch quipped.

Then the Rowdyruffs took hold of each of their female counterparts, and slammed them right into the police units surrounding them. The boys then let out a maniac laugh and flew away, fully satisfied with their own brand of fun. As soon as they were gone, the Powerpuff Girls each let out a groan while trying to peel themselves from the police cars.

"Are you girls alright?" the chief of police rasped.

"Yeah...we're good." Blossom groaned.

"Mayor Bellum will want a briefing."

"Yeah..."

XXXXXXX

Miss Bellum was running Townsville from very sophisticated office building that replaced the Townsville Hall. Despite being ousted from the main government building, Bellum kinda liked working in a smaller area. It was more homely and more organized than in the large mansion like Hall.

The Powerpuff Girls flew all the way to her office as requested. They were quite surprised to find stacks of paper on her desk when it was normally neat and clean.

"Miss Bellum?" Blossom called out.

"Oh hello, girls." the lady called out. "Take a seat please."

The trio sat down on a couch across from the mayor's desk.

"Would you three like some tea?" Bellum asked politely.

"No thanks, we're good." Buttercup said.

"Well then, let's get down to business, shall we?"

"Yeah..."

"Ms. Bellum, I know things are really getting somewhat out of control recently because of the boys and all." Blossom said meekly. "But we _will_ crack down on their activities. Honest."

"Actually, I was going to ask if the school was badly damaged." Bellum said simply.

"Well, the cafeteria has a broken window and the gym's a bit tore up." Buttercup replied.

"Anyone hurt?"

"Just a counselor. But he'll be alright." Bubbles said.

"That's good. And since I know you three will be on the lookout for the boys, we'll have the high school patched up in no time."

The Powerpuff Girls blinked in surprise.

"You mean, you're not mad at us for screwing up?" Blossom asked.

"Girls, I know you've got a lot on your minds as it is. I can't ask you to be perfect all the time." Bellum said. "You let me worry about the city and just focus on bringing the boys to justice. Okay?"

There was a brief silence.

"Okay..." the girls said in unison.

"Be sure to give the Professor my regards, hmm?"

XXXXXXX

Back in the other side of Townsville, Fuzzy Lumpkins was going around hardware stores from various corners collecting pots and dishes.

He figured that since the Powerpuff Girls were no longer around that part of Townsville, it wouldn't hurt to steal them.

Truth be told, that ever since he permanently retired to the forests where he dwelled following Mojo's death, he started running out of much needed supplies. And his dishes were wearing out. The pink furred hillbilly ran about, carrying a brown sack in which the tin pots he already obtained were clanging against the cold hard cement of the sidewalk. Fuzzy was thanking the heavens that he wore sandals today. There was a lot of rubble and glass all over the ground. If he hadn't been wearing any footwear, no doubt his feet would be bloody by now.

He came to the last hardware store on the whole block. Fuzzy was about to go inside when he heard the Rowdyruff Boys fly by. Panicking, he quickly dropped his ill gotten gains and hid in a nearby trashcan. A few minutes later, he nervously poked his head out to see if the coast was clear. When nobody but himself seemed to be around, Fuzzy carefully pulled himself out of the trashcan. But unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side today. Butch had caught sight of him and swan dived at the hillbilly, picking him up like a hawk and its prey.

"EEEEEEKKKK!" Fuzzy cried out.

"What the hell do ya think you're doin' here?!" Butch demanded. "Snoopin' around on our side of town?"

"Ah-Ah ain't doin nuttin'! Ah jus' gettin' new dishes and...er...stuff..."

"What the hell do you need dishes for?!"

"Well...to eat off of...you know..."

Butch narrowed his dark green eyes at Lumpkins.

"Eat off a freaking rock or something." he told the pink furred hillbilly.

Then he kicked Fuzzy 30 feet from their position along with the sack that he was carrying around. A few minutes later, Butch was joined by his younger brother.

"Whaddya doin'?" Boomer asked.

"Kickin' out a squatter." Butch replied. "Let's get back to the pad before Brick starts screechin' at us."

"Right."

The two brothers flew back to the Townsville Hall. Brick was in his usual spot in the Main Office, watching a TV. He had a bored expression on his face as if he was unable to find something to watch that interested him. A little later, Butch and Boomer came into the room.

"Where've ya been?" Brick asked.

"Getting rid of a squatter." Butch replied.

"Cool."

The red clad boy continued flipping through channels with a remote until landing on a news channel. The anchors of the news station reported the events that occurred at the high school earlier that day.

"Tch, these jokers are pathetic." Brick ranted.

"Then why the hell are ya watchin' it?" Butch asked.

"Yeah, isn't there any wrestling or somethin' on?" Boomer added.

"Maybe...I don't know." Brick replied lazily.

"Well, if there _is_ freaking wrestling turn it on, dammit!" Butch exclaimed.

"Alright, alright."


	5. Chapter 4

**=Chapter 4=**

Halloween arrived in Townsville and the Powerpuff Girls along with the Police Force were tightening security around the city's perimeters. Obviously, since it was one of those holidays where pranks and violating public and government property ran rampant, they would have to keep a close watch for any trouble. Especially if the Rowdyruff Boys felt obliged to come around and lay on their own brand of unpleasantness.

As always with every year, Bubbles was to remain home with the Professor and pass out candy to any Trick-or-Treaters. Meanwhile, it was Blossom and Buttercup's job to go around and make sure all was well.

In the past 3 weeks, Blossom hadn't seen much of Brick, and frankly, she wasn't complaining about it. Heck, the Powerpuff leader relished every second that she didn't have to deal with the brute. Of course tonight that could possibly change. But on the bright side, with Buttercup around Blossom could relax.

Twilight settled on the cityscape and already children were out adorning their Halloween costumes and going from house to house for their fill of sugary treats. The smaller children were eagerly dragging their mothers and fathers along the sidewalk and streets. The weather was absolutely gorgeous that evening. A pleasant breeze fluttered through the trees, rather than a bitter cold wind slicing through the air. Blossom and Buttercup made gliding treks around the city, making sure everything was in order. Police units and squad cars were some blocks away from each other, which were there to make sure no rioting or disturbances occurred.

An hour into the night, both Blossom and Buttercup returned to their respective neighborhood. They both sat on the roof of their house with a radio broadcasting police dispatch reports. It was there just in case they would have to act spontaneously. In the meantime, they watched trick or treaters rushing from door to door as if they were all on a mission to get as much candy as they could carry back home. The sisters were quiet until Buttercup bluntly announced a thought that had occurred to her.

"Oh shit."

"What? What is it?" Blossom asked.

"I forgot to finish my Biology assignment."

"Oh well, Buttercup. Guess you'll have to take the zero."

"No. I'll get up early tomorrow morning and finish it."

"Yeah, right. By the time we actually get to bed tonight, you're not even gonna think about waking up early."

The lime clad girl crossed and folded her arms defiantly.

"Well I'll do it in the freaking Homeroom, then." she said firmly. "Since the stupid school district insists on keeping us in there for a whole hour and just to take role."

"There's like 52,430 students at the school, Buttercup." Blossom said. "Of course it's gonna take that long to see who's present or absent. Be grateful we live in the computer age."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."

Another silence set in between them as they watched one little girl eagerly dragged her mother around to each house. Instantly, memories of years now past flooded their minds.

"Hey, Bloss." Buttercup softly called out. "Remember that year where we T. Princess' house?"

"Uh, you did that." Blossom reminded the raven haired girl. "After Princess got her dad to buy all the candy factories."

"Bubbles joined in too, didn't she?"

"Sort of. But you did most of it."

"Heh, heh, heh, those were good times. I wonder what that brat is doing now."

"Last I heard, she headed for a rich boarding school."

"Tch, good riddance. And I'm still glad she's not in Townsville anymore. One less problem we gotta deal with."

"True enough..."

Then the radio went off with a report from the dispatcher that some kind rioting was happening within the city and that back up was desperately needed.

"That's our cue." Blossom said.

"Yup." Buttercup replied.

They quickly took off to the location in which the report was coming in. When the two sisters arrived onto the scene, the Powerpuff leader was almost disheartened to see who was breaking in windows of shops carrying Halloween candy.

"Awww, crap. It's the Rowdyruffs." Buttercup complained.

Blossom was not happy with this situation. First of all, she really didn't want to deal with Brick right now.

'_Great. Just great._' the pink clad girl thought. '_Couldn't he pick some other night to do this?!_'

The boys quickly took notice of their female counterparts.

"Heh, only two this time?" Butch cackled. "This oughta easy as pie."

"Just once, could you guys not cause trouble?" Blossom sighed.

"No." the Rowdyruff Boys said altogether.

Instantly, the male titans pounced on their female counterparts throwing barrage of punches and kicks. Blossom and Buttercup were pounded into the ground within minutes before the boys flew off. The girls laid scowling in the crater that was left in the Rowdyruff's wake.

"Well, this is just dandy." Buttercup muttered.

"We're outnumbered by one person." Blossom pointed out.

"I know that! But we can't have Bubbles come and back us up."

"Right, because she's watching the Professor. We'll just have to make do without her."

The pair shot into the air like a pair of arrows. Meanwhile, the Rowdyruffs overheard their rivals talking about their situation.

"How do ya guys like that?" Boomer said. "The other girlie is babysitting their old man while her sisters are getting their asses kicked!"

"Yeah, that really puts a cramps their stupid group don't it?" Brick commented.

"Hey, Brick." Butch said. "If ya brought your woman to the pad, then that would really screw them over."

That started turning some gears in the red clad boy's head.

"Yeah...that's something we _could_ really do-"

Before he could finish, the two Powerpuff Girls had found them and fired lasers at them.

"But first, we got a couple of asses to finish kicking." Brick concluded.

The brother resumed fight with their two rivals. Despite the fact that they were outnumbered by one, the sisters gave it their all. Especially Buttercup. During the course of their fight, the Rowdyruff leader signaled to his subordinates that he wanted Blossom to himself. Unfortunately, the red-headed girl didn't catch on until it was too late.

'_Oh crap..._'

"Hey, Red." Brick purred. "Let's chit-chat."

"Let's not." Blossom rebuked before throwing a punch at him.

She flew as fast as she could away from him, trying to rejoin with Buttercup. But Brick wouldn't let up. He wanted her and he wanted her now. The Rowdyruff leader finally grabbed a hold of his female counterpart when he was able to catch up. They both crash landed into a building which was completely vacant and up for lease. Because it had no occupants, the place was nearly pitch dark from severe lack of light and due to fact that it was the dead of night. Blossom shot up from the floor of the building and quickly scanned the room for Brick and a possible way out. She walked cautiously around using her X-Ray vision to guide her through the darkness. The pink clad girl then came across the window of which she and her rival crashed into.

'_Ugh, thank God..._'

Just as Blossom thought she was scott-free. Brick suddenly came out of nowhere and knocked her to the floor. Blossom scrambled about like a hooked fish, trying to free herself from the Rowdyruff leader's grip.

"Damn, you're wild tonight, Red." Brick quipped. "Got the Halloween spirit in ya or what?"

"Urrgh! Get the hell off me, Brick!" Blossom snapped.

"_Get the hell off me, Brick!_ Do you usually whine like this?"

That struck the final nerve Blossom had in her system. She swerved around and kneed Brick in the gut, temporarily disabling him. Being able to overpower him gave the Powerpuff leader a little more confidence. She headed for the window again, but Brick wasn't going to go down that easily. He sprang up and dashed straight over to his red-headed rival, pinning her to the floor again.

"Let go of me, dammit!" Blossom screamed.

"Jesus Christ, Red. You sure do have huge lungs on you dont'cha?" Brick rasped.

"I SAID GET THE HELL OFF ME!"

Brick ignored her loud and angry requests.

"Hey, where's your other sis?" he asked. "Is she too scared to come out and fight?"

"It's none of your business, Brick!" Blossom spat.

"Or, is she being Mommy Dearest to your ol' man?"

"I said, IT'S. NONE. OF. YOUR. BUSINESS!"

"Hmmm, can I guess from the shrill tone of your voice that she is?"

Blossom remained quiet, figuring that anything more she said would only egg Brick on. But this only made things clearer to him.

"Giving me the silent treatment ain't gonna help ya, Red." Brick sneered.

Blossom still remained quiet underneath him.

"What the hell do you want, Brick?" she finally asked.

"Eh, nothin' much." the red clad boy mused. "Just making the observation that this really puts your stupid 'Do Gooder' group in the dumps."

"Shut up!"

"Well am I wrong?"

"You're just trying to rile me up, you freaking jerk."

"Only because you look kinda cool when you're pissed off."

Blossom was about to open mouth to protest but her red-headed rival leaned over and captured her in a lip lock. The Powerpuff leader gasped in surprise and immediately tried to squirm away from him. Brick applied more pressure to hold her stationary. Finally, Blossom gave in and allowed her red clad counterpart to embrace her. All the while cursing herself for being weak like this. When Brick parted from her, Blossom took advantage of the opportunity that was presented to her. She blasted him a good 20 feet away from her and didn't wait for the debris cloud to clear. The Powerpuff leader sped straight to the broken window and went in search of Buttercup.

Meanwhile, all this time, the lime clad girl was beating the crap out of Butch after successfully knocking out Boomer. Right now, she was trying to K.O. the two brothers so she could hook up with Blossom as quickly as possible and get this job finished. Not that Buttercup considered her sister a wimp, it just annoyed the raven haired girl that Blossom would almost always lose her nerve when confronting Brick alone. But the lime clad girl needn't worry about her sister for too long because Blossom came zipping right to her side.

"Everything okay?" Blossom asked.

"Now it is." Buttercup replied. Then she noticed the reddish tint on her sister's face. "Wait a minute...are you _blushing?!_"

The red-headed girl went pale.

"Ummm...no..." she croaked.

"Yeah you are!" Buttercup persisted. "If I had a mirror I could show you!"

"CAN WE DROP IT?!"

Suddenly, the pair was viciously zapped by the Rowdyruffs' eye lasers, knocking them out of the air like flies. The Boys laughed maniacally at their handiwork.

"Come on, boys. No use fightin' when it's too easy." Brick quirked cruelly.

That snapped a nerve in Buttercup.

"EASY?!" the raven haired girl shrieked. "YOU WANT HARD CORE, I'LL GIVE IT TO YA!"

Buttercup built up all her energy into she giant power ball and shot it towards her rivals. Brick and Butch were quick to dodge it, but Boomer wasn't so fast.

"Idiot." Brick muttered.

"Now we're even." Blossom declared.

Within seconds, the situation turned into a makeshift Battle Royale...which ended in a complete draw. The two remaining Rowdyruffs and Powerpuffs laid unconscious on the asphalt. Boomer came flying back to the scene.

"Oh dang..." he rasped as he glanced as his brothers.

The blue clad boy decided to pick up Brick and Butch and fly them back to the pad before Blossom and Buttercup got back up.

As soon as he was gone, the police units came rolling into the street. The chief of police hastenly got out of his car and rushed to the girls' side.

"Quick! Get a damned ambulance out here!" he barked.


	6. Chapter 5

**=Chapter 5=**

Brick and Butch slowly came back to their senses and cracked their eyes open.

"Ungghh...what happened?" Butch rasped. "Where the hell are we?"

"Back at the pad." Boomer said cheerfully.

"Come again?" Brick asked.

"Well, you guys were knocked out so I brought you back to the pad." the blonde haired boy explained.

Which was not a smart thing to say in front of his brothers. Especially Brick.

"YOU DIPSHIT!" Brick roared as he grabbed a hold of Boomer's shirt collar. "WHAT THE FUCK DID'JA GO AND DO THAT FOR?!"

"The girlies were out cold too, so it wasn't like we lost or anything." Boomer chocked. "And besides, the cops were comin' at us."

Brick narrowed his crimson eyes at his brother and socked him.

"Next time, hit the stupid cops first dumbass!" Brick demanded.

After throwing his blue clad brother to the ground, the Rowdyruff leader headed for the large window of the main office.

"Where the hell are you off to now?" Butch questioned.

"Where do ya think?"

XXXXXXX

"Blossom? Blossom, can you hear me?"

"Ugggghhhh..."

Blossom cracked her rosy pink eyes and saw the face of a Paramedic looking down on her.

"Wha...what happened?" Blossom croaked.

"Well, we both got our asses kicked." said Buttercup's voice.

Blossom lifted herself up and saw her lime clad sister getting her scrapes treated.

"So...how bad is it out there?" the Powerpuff leader asked meekly.

"Not as bad as it could've been." Buttercup replied. "At least nobody got hurt this time."

And thank heavens for that. Blossom let out a deep sigh as her own wounds were being treated. Buttercup was observing for any hint that Brick might've advanced or made a pass at her red-headed sister.

"Alright girls, you're free to leave." the Paramedic said.

"Thanks, man." Buttercup said.

She and Blossom stepped out of the ambulance and saw the police yellow taping off the two buildings that got damaged as well as the crater on the street.

"You girls did good tonight." the chief of police told them. "Hardly any damage to the property."

"Good to know." Buttercup remarked.

"You two can go on home. We can fix everything from here."

"If you say so."

"Goodnight, chief." Blossom said before she and her sister took off. "And thanks."

xxxxxxx

Back at the Utonium household, the Trick or Treating session was well over, and Bubbles was sitting alone on the couch in the living room watching TV. A few minutes past the hour, her sisters came home.

"Geez, what on earth happened to you guys?" she explained after taking one look at them.

"Take a guess." Buttercup muttered.

"Where's the Professor?" Blossom asked.

"In bed." Bubbles replied.

"Good, I think I'll do the same." Buttercup moaned as she floated up the staircase.

"Yeah...me too." Blossom yawned.

The baby-blue clad girl watched them retire to their respective rooms. Bubbles gave a shrug and turned off the television set and headed up the stairs herself. Bubbles felt a little disheartened about leaving her sisters behind in battle, but at least it was for a good cause.

Somebody had to watch the Professor after all.

XXXXXXX

Around midnight, Blossom was already sound asleep in her bed when an intruder broke in. His Shadow crept over to the pink clad girl's bed. Blossom was too exhausted and too deep asleep to notice that anything was out of the ordinary. The intruder then crawled onto the bed with her, wrapping his arms firmly around her waist. It didn't take long for Blossom to feel the extra weight on her bed. She fluttered her eyes open and felt someone snuggle up to her.

"Buh..Bubbles?" the Powerpuff leader called out softly. "Is that you?"

"Nice guess, Red. But no."

Suddenly Blossom was wide awake after hearing that all too familiar voice.

"Buh..Brick?!" she croaked.

"Bingo. You're all nice and warm, Red."

As fast as it had started, the adrenaline rush in Blossom's body died down and she began falling into a lull.

"What do you want?" the Powerpuff leader murmured tiredly.

"At the moment, nothing much." Brick whispered. "Just you."

Blossom let out a whine. She tried squirming a bit to get some distance between her and her red clad rival. But he wasn't having any of it. Brick tightened his hold on her so he looked like a kid clutching a stuff animal. The pink clad girl let out a deep sigh and then a yawn. She didn't care to fight at the moment. All she wanted right now was sleep and nothing but.

XXXXXXX

The very next morning brought in bitterly cold weather. Nearly all the leaves fell from the trees and bushes outside. Looked like winter would come early this year. Blossom's alarm clock went off, which in turn received a laser zap from the red-headed girl cocooned in blankets. Moments later, she shot up from her bed realizing she had school that morning.

_Oh crap!_

She jumped out of her bed was almost out the door to the kitchen when something caught her attention. A slight scent was emitting from her mattress. Doing some inspecting, she found that the scent belonged to none other than Brick.

_Oohhh, gross..._

Buttercup was walking through the hall while brushing her teeth when she saw her pink clad sister going back to her room with a can of air freshener.

"What are you up to?" Buttercup asked.

"Nothing..." Blossom muttered.

Later that morning, the girls were at their home room and Buttercup was working straight away at her unfinished homework from the night before. Bubbles, whilst observing Blossom, started to wonder if she was the only one in the room that noticed that her sister was rather moody today.

"Blossom? Are you feeling okay?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah...sure." the Powerpuff leader replied.

"Positive?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, really."

"Well, okay then. By the way, I'm sorry I couldn't help you and Buttercup last night."

"Bubbles, there's nothing to be sorry about. You're taking care of the Professor and that's enough."

"I know. But still, you and Buttercup could've needed me."

"Don't worry about it."

And that ended the conversation. For the rest of the day the girls, save for Buttercup, had a somewhat solemn attitude. Blossom and Bubbles had their own personal reasons for feeling moody, while their lime clad sister was trying to think of ways to keep the Rowdyruff Boys at bay with a plan that would actually work this time.

The girls' friend, Robin, noticed a change in the atmosphere of things. The moodiness of her friends made her a bit worried about their well-being. Since Buttercup seemed to be the only one of the sisters acting 'normal', Robin decided to go to her for inquiries.

"Hey Buttercup?"

"Yeah? What's up, Robin?"

"Oh nothing much. I just wanted to ask if everything's okay."

"Sure they're okay. Why do you ask?"

"Well, Blossom and Bubbles seem to be kinda out of it today."

Buttercup made a short pause.

"We had a rough night last night." the raven haired girl replied. "It's nothing you should worry about."

"You sure?" Robin asked.

"Yeah. It's all that crime fighting stuff. You know..."

"Oh I see. Is it really that stressful?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Well, if there's anything I can do to help..."

"Like I said Robin, don't worry yourself over it. You've got bigger problems to worry about. Like getting an A+ on your Chemistry mid-term."

"Well alright. I hope everything turns out okay."

"It will. You can bet on that."

XXXXXXX

During lunch period, Blossom decided to go to a secluded part of the quad and catch up on her studies. Being mentally stuck in a book helped her keep her focus off of things that were giving her a head ache.

With mid-terms coming up, Blossom wanted to be on top of all of her studies. The pink clad girl was distracted enough as it is. And...her concentration was probably about to be distracted yet again. Hiding in the bushes in the school yard, was Brick. He had actually been there for while, ever since she came into the quad. For now, he was content to just watch her, although he did have the urge to go over to her and give the Powerpuff leader a hard time. The problem was, there were a few students around and one peep out of Blossom and her sisters would be all over the red clad boy in seconds.

_I hate schools_. Brick thought. _What the hell is there to learn anyway?_

He continued to watch the red-headed girl silently, keeping hidden behind the bush. Brick was lucky it still had its leaves, otherwise Blossom would've spotted him earlier. Then the bell tolled, alerting her and the other students that lunch hour was over. Blossom got to her feet and walked off to her next class. Another strong urge came over Brick. He wanted to zip over to his female counterpart and keep her from leaving. But he still had witnesses seeing everything.

_Dammit._

With not being able to get ahold of the Powerpuff leader, there was no point in Brick sticking around. After watching Blossom disappear into one of the buildings, the red clad boy finally took off. He _had_ been taking Butch's suggestions into consideration, had a hard time figuring out how to put that all into action. Brick hated strategic planning, took all the fun out of everything. But sometimes it worked for him, and since he and his brothers practically _owned_ the other half of Townsville, what was there for him to really worry about?

_I gotta wonder how screwed up their ol' man really is._

With that, Brick turned his direction towards the Powerpuff household.


	7. Chapter 6

**=Chapter 6=**

Brick went straight to the Powerpuff Girls' household intent on seeing the girls' father and creator, Professor Utonium. He wanted to know just how disabled the scientist really was. Without any of the Powerpuff Girls at home, it would be easy pickings. Within seconds, the red clad boy came to the house and peered through the window of the living room. Brick needn't have worried about looking for the Professor because he was right there on the couch. Utonium wasn't doing much other than reading a magazine and watching the TV set. He had some provisions on the coffee table which included some granola bars and some fruit. To the left, was a thermas full of green tea.

Utonium wasn't fully disabled, but he still couldn't get around much without Bubbles to assist him. However, Brick was convinced that the Professor was nothing short of a zombie.

'_Whoa, whatever happened to this unlucky bastard must've been tight._'

Then Brick asked himself what the hell was the point of even keeping the guy alive? Utonium to him was pretty much a slug.

'_Eh, I'll never figure out girls._'

The Rowdyruff leader flew off after observing all that he needed to observe. To him, the Professor wasn't much of a bargaining chip since he was already physically disabled from the waist down. Hell, Brick thought that Utonium just might die if he even touched him.

But, another advantage presented itself. With the Professor's health being as fragile as it was, there was no way in hell the girls would willingly leave his side to go fight.

It might just be easy to kidnap Blossom after all...

XXXXXXX

Blossom was in the library quietly reading. It was the class period before PE and the instructor of the current class had graciously allowed the students to get some studying done for the coming midterm exams.

Now the Powerpuff leader absolutely loved this. Nothing thrilled her more than being surrounded in heaps of study material. The pink clad girl was a dedicated bookworm. The only interruption she had to worry about right now was Buttercup. The raven haired girl seemed to be having difficulties in locating a specific book that she needed for her World Cultures class.

"Hey, Bloss?"

"What, Buttercup?!"

"You wouldn't happen to have anything on Napoleon in that book mountain you got there wouldja?"

"No, I don't."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Positive?"

"100 percent, Buttercup."

"Urg! Well, can ya help me out here?"

Blossom heaved a frustrated sigh, got up from her seat at a table, and followed her lime clad sister into the Historical section. After a few minutes of scanning through various titles, Blossom found one that Buttercup needed.

"Here, Buttercup."

"What the-? Where the hell was that?!"

"I don't know, Buttercup. Maybe you weren't paying attention."

Buttercup muttered a curse under her breath as she floated up to retrieve the book from the top shelf. Then Blossom went back to her table to study in peace...only to have the passing bell ring out.

'_Urgghh, I can't catch a break._'

XXXXXXX

Elsewhere in the barren part of Townsville, Brick and Boomer were out tagging buildings. Surprisingly, in the year and a half they were there, not much of the buildings in that area were spray painted beyond recognition. Being bored out of his mind, the Rowdyruff leader showed it in his 'artwork'. Boomer on the other hand, painted random and offensive things on the cement and brick wall. It wasn't long before their green clad brother came to join them.

"Hey, dudes. Got a free can?" he said.

"Over there." Brick replied pointing his thumb to his left.

Butch floated over to the unused can of spray paint and started tagging the wall.

"So I went to the girlies' pad earlier..." Brick began.

"Yeah?" Butch replied.

"...and their old man's really fucked up."

Butch and Boomer made surprised pauses.

"Seriously?" the blue clad boy said.

"Yup." Brick replied. "Dude's in a freakin' wheelchair."

"Dang. Might as well be on life support." Butch remarked.

"Yeah, which makes him useless as a hostage. I mean, there ain't much more you can do to the guy."

Hearing that made Butch feel a little frustrated. But then there were plenty more things to threaten the Powerpuff Girls with.

"So what?" the raven haired boy asked.

"Meh, I don't know." Brick said in reply. "I don't feel like doin' much right now."

Butch simply shrugged and returned to his tagging.

XXXXXXX

Later that day, the Girls went straight home after school let out. Blossom wanted to get to her room as soon as possible so she could get back to studying. Buttercup went down to the basement as usual, and Bubbles tended to the Professor. When Blossom went into her bedroom, she instantly found that a few things were off.

First of all, her window was nearly all the way open, and second, a few books from her book shelf were toppled on the floor. Like somebody bumped into the book shelf with enough force to knock some books down. It couldn't have possibly been the Professor since he's never been able to get out of his wheelchair by himself since his accident. Which meant that it could only be one suspect.

Brick.

Blossom quickly became nervous. If the red-headed boy was here and inside her room, there was no telling how long he was there. A thought that scared the Powerpuff leader the most. But he couldn't have been there long, since the Professor was virtually left unharmed. Cautiously, Blossom began picking up the fallen novels off of the floor. Then she unloaded the contents of her school bag onto her desk. Her room was quiet, and other than the fact that she found a few of her things on the floor along with the window being open, it was for the most part undisturbed.

'_Maybe I'm just being paranoid._' the red-headed girl thought. '_I probably left the window open before school._'

If that was true, then how did the books end up on the floor? Blossom wasn't a messy person. At any rate, it really didn't matter now. What was far more important to her was acing those midterm exams. The pink clad girl sat at her desk, opened her Intergraded Math book and began practicing some algebra problems that would be on the exam in her notebook. As she went away at solving formulas, she became less focused on Brick and more on her work. All too soon however, a shadow emerged from Blossom's closet and creeped silently over to her chair. A few seconds later, Blossom suddenly felt something grab a hold of the back of her chair and yank it backwards. She was so startled, that she clung to the chair and waited for the impact onto the floor. But it never happened. The next thing the Powerpuff leader knew, she was looking right into a familiar pair of furious crimson shaded eyes.

"'Sup, Red?"

Blossom took a second to her bearings together.

"Buh...Brick! What the heck do you think you're doing here?!" she shrieked.

"Pipe down, willya?" Brick muttered.

"NO! I want you to leave! NOW!"

"Yeah? And I wanna wipe this useless hellhole of a city off the face of the damn planet. But you don't see _that_ happenin' anytime soon do ya?"

Blossom suppressed a growl and tried punching at her rival whilst keeping her balance on the leaning chair. Brick just simply leaned himself back before being able to grab a hold of her wrists with one hand.

"Careful, Red." he quietly sneered. "We wouldn't want your stupid sisters to hear us."

The pink clad girl stopped herself from letting out another growl. Brick smirked at her frustration and leaned over her.

"How 'bout we take this outside?" he whispered.

Blossom narrowed her eyes.

'_Yes. Let's._'

Brick's zipped out of the bedroom window with Blossom in tow. The minute they got outside of the house, the red-headed girl started beating up Brick. She threw him onto the street and pounded him into the asphalt. Surprisingly, the Rowdyruff leader didn't fight back. When Blossom felt fully satisfied, she took back into the air. As the dust cloud cleared, she cautiously approached the small crater that her male counterpart was stuck to. He merely cracked a crooked grin as he sat up.

"Heh, not bad, Red." he croaked. "You've been practicin'?"

"Shut up." Blossom barked. "I don't want you coming around here. Ever. And I especially don't want to see your ugly-mutt face."

"Ouch, Red. I think you might've actually hurt my feelins."

The Powerpuff leader laser zapped him in response. Oh how she hated this boy. Finally, she turned to head back for home, but then out of nowhere, Brick came flying at her grabbed her from behind.

"You know better than leave behind an enemy without totally K. him." Brick sneered.

"God dammit, Brick. Leave. Me. ALONE!" Blossom shrieked.

She managed to swerve around and zap her laser eyes at him, but the red clad boy was much too quick and dodged her attacks.

"Boy, did we sure wake up on the wrong side of the bed." Brick quipped.

"Excuse me?!" Blossom cried. "Are you just begging to get your ass kicked?!"

"Maybe."

Blossom growled. This jerk was really trying at her last line of patience. But she failed to realize that Brick was just pulling at her strings because he got turned on by her violent side.

"Come on, Red." he jeered. "Show me whatcha got."

Blossom was only too happy to oblige.

She launched herself at her male counterpart, throwing a series of mega punches at him. Brick was actually surprised at how focused she was. Still, the red-headed boy was able to keep up and dodge every hit. Then, Brick decided to be playful and lure Blossom out of the neighborhood. Blossom took the bait and followed her rival into the park. The pink clad fighter was just about to close in on Brick when he suddenly reared up and pushed her towards the ground. They both crashed into the ground and slid a few feet onto the dirt. As the debris cloud cleared away, Brick had his female counterpart pinned down. Then he leaned forward and gave her a little peck. Blossom again was taken by surprise. At first, she tried to break away but the Rowdyruff leader held her in place. Pretty soon, Blossom couldn't help herself and kissed back. Brick smirked at this and deepened the embrace. Blossom was too wrapped up in the moment to even realize that she was making out with the enemy. A few seconds later, the pair finally parted.

"See Red, it doesn't have to be all kicks and punches." he sneered.

Then Blossom's mind snapped back to its senses.

"YOU FREAKING JERK!" she screamed.

The red-headed girl tried slugging her rival, but he quickly leapt away without getting hit.

"See ya later, Red!" Brick said before taking flight.

Watching him leave, Blossom was about ready to throw an angry fit. But she held it in and turned to leave for home.

'_Nevermind him now. You have major studying to do._'

* * *

**AN: By the way, it appears that SOPA is back. Go protest it and sign an online petition to get it crushed.**


	8. Chapter 7

**AN: I want to apologize if it seems that this story is dragging. I'm slowly starting to lose my steam with it T-T Anyway, enjoy. :)**

* * *

**=Chapter 7=**

Midterms finally arrived. All the students in the school yard were rushing about to get last minute studying done. Blossom was more than ready to tackle those annoying and challenging questions and problems. Bubbles was also prepared, Buttercup...not so much. She was having trouble memorizing her World Cultures study guide.

"Now why the hell was WWI started again?" the lime clad girl muttered while chewing on the end of her pencil's eraser.

"Because the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, Buttercup." Blossom sighed.

"Oh right. I knew that."

Just once, the pink clad girl wished she wasn't used as her sisters' private text book.

XXXXXXX

A half hour later all the students were inside their respective classrooms and the testing had commenced. Meanwhile outside, where it was all quiet, a familiar trio of boys was slinking around unseen in the school yard.

"Brick, what the hell are we doin' here?" Butch demanded.

"I wanna screw around with Red for a bit." Brick devilishly replied.

"How come we're snooping around, then?" Boomer asked.

"Because I don't really give a shit about her stupid sisters and I don't want them ruining everything." Brick explained.

Boomer and Butch exchanged glances until the raven-haired boy shrugged it off.

'_Eh, heck with it._' Butch thought. '_And who knows? This might be fun._'

Good fortune was definitely favoring the Rowdyruff Boys today because in almost no time at all, they found Blossom's classroom. One of which she did not share with her sisters. At least not the same period anyway. Even better, the Powerpuff leader was seated in a desk towards the back row and in the corner. And while everyone else was hard at work trying to correctly complete their exams, Blossom's super sensitive hearing picked up the very light tapping on the window. Her head popped up and turned towards her left. With total disbelief, she saw Brick leaning against a tree that was just outside the classroom window.

'_Oh no...oh God no..._' the red-headed girl mentally whined.

Blossom let out a sigh and tried to focus on her English exam rather than her male counterpart. Brick knew the best way to grab her attention without anyone else's in the classroom was to take advantage of her super hearing. Continuing to lean casually up against the tree, Brick began to whisper things. Since the classroom was very quiet, it was easy for Blossom to pick it up.

'_Hey Red, guess what? I looooooovvvvveee yyyyooooouuuuu..._'

Blossom narrowed her eyes as she bubbled in her answers on the scantron sheet. She tried to ignore him as best she could, but her rival couldn't leave well enough alone.

'_Hey Red..._'

"...shut up..." the Powerpuff leader muttered quietly under her breath.

Then she heard the red clad boy's brothers trying to hold in their laughter, making her face noticeably pale.

'_Oh God, don't tell me Butch and Boomer are here too._' Blossom thought.

She stole a glance at the window and sure enough, Brick's two brothers were in the tree above him.

'_Dammit. __**What**__ do they want?!_'

The red-headed boy devilishly smirked. He was simply having too much fun with this. Pretty soon, his brothers started to join in.

"...hey red!" Butch called out in a whisper. "..hey red..how's the test..?"

Blossom's left hand curled into a fist underneath the desk in annoyance.

'_Don't listen to them._' she mentally told herself. '_Focus on the exam._'

The pink clad girl continued reading the questions on the exam carefully and answered them. But out of the corner of her eye, she caught Boomer making faces at her. Until Brick punched him.

'_Uggghhh...go away!_'

Blossom plopped her head down on the desk and emitted a quiet moan.

XXXXXXX

Later that day, during lunch, Blossom's sisters and their friends noticed that she looked rather irritated. One might ask if all was well, but it probably wouldn't be wise. Buttercup figured that she was beating herself up over the stupid exams.

"Hey lighten up, Bloss." the raven haired girl told her sister, putting an arm around her. "We only have two more classes to go."

"Yeah, two classes." Blossom sighed.

"The midterms are really giving you hell, huh? Robin asked.

'_Not really. It's Brick and his stupid ass brothers..._'

"A little bit."

"Maybe you worked yourself a little too hard." Bubbles suggested.

"Yeah, you didn't take a break once while studying last night." Buttercup added. "You look like you could use a freaking nap."

"Might as well." Robin giggled. "We've got Winter break in a couple of days."

"Hey, that's right!" Bubbles exclaimed. "We gotta start Christmas shopping soon."

"Hold your horses, Bubbles. We're barely in December." Buttercup said.

While her sisters and friends started exchanging conversations on the impending vacation, Blossom got out another study guide from her bag and started reading it.

xxxxxxx

Meanwhile, the Rowdyruff Boys went hollering back to their side of Townsville.

"Man, that was fun!" Boomer exclaimed.

"You think she's gonna tattle to her sisters?" Butch asked.

"Nah, I don't think so." Brick replied. "She hasn't done it before."

"How do ya know?"

"Yeah?" Boomer added.

"Because then both of her stupid sisters would be constantly on our asses, wouldn't they?" the red clad boy explained.

"Ain't that what the brunette's doin'?" Butch alleged.

"Only because she's smart. I think she's rubbin' off of Red a lil' bit."

"That makes sense. Plus she's one hard ass." the green clad boy replied. "So, you still thinking about bringin' Red to the pad?"

"Yeah. Maybe we oughta have her over for X-mas."

"Cool."

"But what about her stupid sisters?" Boomer asked.

"Don't be a dumbass, Boomer." Butch ranted. "With their old man a freakin' zombie-"

"Actually, he's got a point." Brick said.

"Whaddya mean?"

"I'm starting to see what our old man was talking about."

"Which one? HIM or the ape?"

"HIM. Why do you think he and all the other screwballs epically failed at takin' over the whole damn city?"

"Because they suck?" Boomer asked.

"Well...yeah. But aside from that, all of them did that strategic planning shit and no matter how perfect it was, they still got fucked up."

"That's true." Boomer mused thoughtfully.

"So what's your point, dude?"

"My point is: Screw planning. We're probably better off just playin' by ear." Brick declared.

"Hey, he's right." Boomer said. "I mean, when we scored half of the city, we didn't plan that. We just took it, and we still have it."

"Okay, I see what you guys are getting at, but what the hell does this have to do with Red?" Butch asked.

Brick put his arms around his brothers' shoulders and brought them both together.

"Just so we don't have to deal with the dumbass law enforcement, we'll wait for the girlies to be out of school for their _vacation_. Then I'll go screw with the brunette while you guys pick up Red. And then it's Ball Park from there."

The other two Rowdyruffs let their leader's words sink in before joining him with sinister grins.

"Cool." Butch said.

"Do we get to screw up their house?" Boomer asked in earnest.

"Sure. But don't make it last all freaking day." Brick said.

XXXXXXX

The last bell of the day rang and all the students of Townsville High stampeded out of the campus, eager to get home. The weather had gotten very cloudy during those last two classes.

"Oh man, I'm so glad that's over!" Buttercup sighed as she and her sisters took to the air.

"Me too." Bubbles added. "Thank goodness today's Friday, which means I can sleep in tomorrow."

"No kiddin'."

Blossom was quiet. A little unusual for her.

"Bloss, you're not sayin' much." Buttercup observed.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm glad the mid-terms are done too." she mindlessly babbled.

Buttercup and Bubbles glanced at each other as if their sister just spoke in Pig Latin.

"You okay in there, Bloss?" Buttercup asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." the red-headed girl replied.

Her raven haired sister just let it drop. Blossom was probably mentally exhausted after all that studying. The girls landed right in front of their porch and proceeded into their house.

"Ahhh, home sweet home!" Bubbles sighed.

"If the perps know what's good for 'em, they'll stay away from crime for the rest of the freaking day." Buttercup growled.

Blossom, without another word, went slowly floating up the stairs and into her bedroom. After closing the door behind her, she tossed her backpack onto the carpeted floor and flopped onto her bed. The Powerpuff leader's body instantly felt relaxing relief when she did so. Completing those exams was one load off her mind. Now she just had to worry about whether she passed or not. But there was a little more to worry about. Clutching her pillow a bit, Blossom felt a dark feeling come over her. Like a really bad premonition.

'_Why do I feel like something terrible is going to happen to us?_' she thought.

A few minutes later, Blossom decided to do some laundry since her basket was nearly full and to get her mind off of things. While going to the utility room and starting up the washing machine, Professor Utonium was passing by through the hall.

"Hello, Blossom." he called out softly.

"Oh, hey there, Professor." Blossom replied sweetly. "How are you feeling this afternoon?"

"Oh I'm just fine, honey."

The pink clad girl smiled and gave her father a hug.

'_Good..._'


	9. Chapter 8

**=Chapter 8=**

"Blossom! Come out here and look!"

The Powerpuff leader emitted a moan as she lugged herself out of bed to see what Bubbles was exclaiming about. Walking down the stairs to where her baby-blue clad sister was by the window, Blossom could see a whiteness from the outside. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be snow.

"Oh, there's a snow storm this morning." the red-headed girl observed.

"Meh, too bad it's not a week day." Buttercup lamented as she came to join them. "We could've had a day off from school."

"We only have a week left before break. Whaddya complaining about?"

"Well, it still would've been nice to have it early."

Blossom let out a yawn and headed back up the stairs.

"I'm going back to bed..." she moaned.

"When did _you_ become a killjoy?" Buttercup ranted.

"I'm still tired."

The two remaining Powerpuff Girls watch their sister float back up the stairs and shrugged at each other. Blossom went back into her room when she felt the chill of the cold from outside coming into the house which made her slightly shiver. So instead of going straight for her bed, she went to her closet to find another blanket.

'_Winter sure came early this year._' she murmured to herself.

XXXXXXX

Some time later that day, the snow became a little heavier and when it finally stopped, Buttercup was tasked with shoveling out the thick frost from the driveway. Meanwhile inside the warm house, Bubbles was beginning her yearly holiday baking with the Professor at the kitchen table there to test out her product. Blossom was in the living room lying on the couch with a comfy throw blanket wrapped around her and reading a book. A few minutes later, Buttercup came back inside, nearly covered in frost.

"Boy, it sure is brisk out there." she said as she removed her jacket, scarf, and snow cap.

The lime clad girl frowned when she saw Blossom with her nose buried in another book.

"What. You already picked out your winter reading list or something?" Buttercup sarcastically asked.

"Yup." Blossom replied with equal amount of sarcasm.

The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes and went over to the couch.

"Scoot over, willya?"

Blossom pulled her legs back so that her sister could sit down.

"We gotta talk." Buttercup declared.

"We do?" the Powerpuff asked looking up.

"Yeah. When school lets out, I really would like you to do something other than reading."

"Oh _really_?"

"Freaking really. You need to get out and get some sun."

"Are we vacationing in Florida or something?"

"No, but you get my point, don't you?"

"Yes. I see your point, but what's wrong with reading?"

"Well...nothing. You're just cooping yourself in the house too much, Blossom. You need to get out."

"Is that what this is about? Me being inside the house too much?"

"Yeah. You've got your face in front of printed pages all the time. I'm not sayin' it's a bad thing, because it's your hobby and all. But you gotta get out of the house at some point during the day."

The discussion got quiet. Blossom pulled her legs closer to her chest until her knees met her chin.

"I don't know, Buttercup." she murmured. "I understand what you're saying it's just...well..."

"Well what?"

Blossom got even quieter. She didn't want to tell her sister about her suspicions on Brick. She had a gut feeling that he was planning something and a little voice from the back of her head warned Blossom against going outdoors where he could easily get to her.

"It's nothing." the pink clad girl said, shaking her head. "Maybe next weekend, I'll join in a snow ball fight or something."

"There you go, Bloss." Buttercup said encouragingly. "I can't wait to whoop your ass at that."

Blossom rolled her eyes.

"Tch, as if." she muttered, returning to her book.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to both sisters, Brick was leering through the window from the rooftop of the house next door.

'_That's right, Red. Be sure to keep yer mouth shut._'

XXXXXXX

"YES! WE'RE FREE!"

Buttercup was dancing around in midair as the rest of the students piled out of the school building. The day of which winter vacation would begin had finally arrived. At last there was a month of no homework, test, quizzes, or projects to worry about. At least in Buttercup's mind. With Blossom, it was like having to move out of her humble sanctuary.

"So Bloss, you gonna hold up on that snow ball fight?" the lime clad Powerpuff teased.

"Yeah...sure." Blossom replied in a distracted tone. "Listen guys, just between us, we should really be on the lookout for the Rowdyruff's Boys."

"What for?"

"Yeah. They haven't been giving us problems lately." Bubbles added.

"Call me paranoid if you want, but I have this weird vibe that they're gonna pull something."

Buttercup narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"What do you mean, Blossom?" she asked.

"Just go with me on this okay?" the Powerpuff leader burst out before taking flight.

Buttercup and Bubbles looked at each other in total confusion.

"What was that about?" the blonde-haired girl asked.

"I think it has something to do with Brick." Buttercup replied.

"Brick? What about him?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later."

xxxxxxx

At home, Buttercup took the opportunity of Blossom reading in her room to bring Bubbles up to speed on a few things.

"Hey Bubbles, come here." the raven-haired girl whispered from the living room.

Bubbles was playing Boggle in the kitchen with the Professor when her lime clad sister called her attention.

"Be right back, Professor." she sweetly told the scientist.

"Hm? Oh okay, take your time honey." Utonium answered back.

Bubbles followed her sister down to the basement. Then they climbed onto the stair master to talk.

"Okay, for past couple of months, Brick's been harassing Blossom in a really bad way." Buttercup began.

The baby-blue clad girl blinked.

"Really?" she said. "Is that why she's been all depressed and moody?"

"Yup. And now it's really starting to worry me."

"Why?"

"Because for some reason, she's starting to flip out. I mean, _really_ flip out. Before that, Blossom used to be just as energetic as us and even bossy a few times. Now, she doesn't even want to leave the freaking house."

"Yeah, I _have_ noticed that."

"I don't know how it's happening, but it seems that Brick is getting to her more times than we usually face him and his stupid brothers.

"Well, what if we talk to Blossom?"

"Pfft. Yeah right. Trying to convince her to fess up is like trying to get a lion or a tiger to not eat red meat. And it's not like the damn Rowdyruff's are gonna tell us anything."

"Well she must want us to something about it. Why do you think she asked us to keep a close look out for the Boys?"

"A cry for help?"

"Maybe."

Buttercup went silent. Perhaps Bubbles was right about that. But the raven-haired girl was too skeptical for her own good.

"I don't know, Bubbles. Part of me wants to do something about it, and other half is sayin' to wait it out." she said.

"That really puts us between a rock and a hard place doesn't it?" Bubbles remarked.

'_Yes it does...dammit._'

"Well we'll just have to figure out something. I don't know what, but we will."


	10. Chapter 9

**=Chapter 9=**

Townsville was transformed into a winter wonderland that December. With crime rate remaining low, the good citizens were bubbly about the impending holidays.

In the section belonging to the Rowdyruff Boys, there was nothing but ice. Not powdery snow, but hard, harsh, and bitter ice. It had gotten worse this year than the one before it. Which created a problem for the boys. Since the old Townsville Hall was barely functional, it wasn't very comfortable during those cold snowy days. Finally Brick could stand it no more.

"Dudes, we gotta find a new pad." he told his brothers.

"Oh really? Ya don't say." Butch sarcastically replied.

"But where are gonna find a new pad? And on our turf?" Boomer asked.

The Rowdyruff leader took a minute to think.

"I think it's high time we widen the boundaries a bit, boys." he said.

"Whaddya mean?" Butch asked.

"Ya know those new houses and condos they're building on the south eastern side of the city?"

"Yeah. They're still empty ain't they?"

"Yup. And that means they're also free to loot."

At first, his two brothers seemed up to conquering another part of Townsville, but then Butch had a thought occur to him.

"Wait, how do we keep that from the girlies?" he asked.

"Well, we're just gonna have to make a few people lose their voices for a while." Brick declared.

XXXXXXX

Since the south eastern part of Townsville was extremely low on security, the newer lodgings built there were very easy pickings. The boys found the owner of the freshly built condos and houses and quickly made him a painful offer he could not refuse.

Thus, the Rowdyruff Boys made another successful conquest.

"Damn man, this place is freaking huge!" Butch observed.

"Yeah, it's perfect for hiding!" Boomer added.

"Boomer, why the fuck would we hide from anything?!"

"Well, if we're gonna plan on bringin' Red here, he's sort of got a point."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Butch recalled. "But as long as they think that we're still at that Mayor pad, we shouldn't have any problems right?"

"Give or take..."

XXXXXXXX

"Blossom! Heads up!"

"Oooofff!"

Bubbles had tried to warn her pink clad sister of Buttercup chucking a snowball at her. Blossom went down to the frosty ground with a plop.

"Dang it, Buttercup! This is my good jacket!" Blossom cried.

"Oh cool it, Bloss." Buttercup replied. "After all it's just frozen water."

"Yeah, but I don't want to get wet either!"

"Oh please!"

That's when the Powerpuff leader gathered up some snow to create her own projectile. She tried throwing it at her lime clad sister, but Buttercup, anticipating it, easily dodged the attack. In a matter of seconds, the little snowball fight turned into a battle. The only thing lacking was walls to hide behind. But it was not to last and Bubbles started to break it up.

"Hey, hey, hey! Can we do this when we're inot/i putting up the outside decorations?" the blonde haired girl ranted.

"Oh yeah. Sorry, Bubbles." Buttercup said meekly.

To begin with, the girls were outdoors to put up the Christmas decorations around the exterior of their house. Which to Bubbles' chagrin, would've been done in just minutes if Blossom and Buttercup hadn't started their little snow spat. The lime clad girl flew to the top of the house along with Bubbles.

"Hey, toss me those lights willya?" Buttercup called out.

Blossom picked up a roll of festive lights and floated towards her raven haired sister to hand them to her.

Way from afar, watching this traditional family scene were the Rowdyruff Boys. They had been keeping close tabs on their female counterparts since winter had begun.

"What the hell are they doin' again?" Boomer asked while scratching the top of his head.

"Looks like they're putting up their X-mas decorations." Butch observed. "Hey, how come we never put up stuff?"

"Because I never felt like it." Brick replied while shrugging his shoulders. "And besides, we gotta take it down when it's all over."

"That's true. But we should really get a tree or somethin'."

"Yeah! And then we can blow it up!" Boomer exclaimed.

"Boomer, for once your brain's workin'."

Brick busted up laughing at his green clad brother's remark. Boomer however, wasn't pleased.

"Hey, that's not funny!" the blonde haired boy cried.

"Come on, dudes. Let's go beat up some carolers." the Rowdyruff leader declared.

"Sweet." Butch said before they took off.

Blossom perked up like a prairie dog while she was searching through a box of decorations, swearing that she heard something. She turned around just in time to see the fading illuminated color auras of the Rowdyruff Boys. Making a rather upset looking face, the red-headed girl started wondering just how long they were watching.

XXXXXXX

A few hours later, all the exterior decorations were completed. Now they had to make sure all the lights were in working order. Blossom on the other hand, was having about enough of the chilly weather.

"Come on already, Buttercup!" the Powerpuff leader cried.

"Hold your horses, Bloss!" Buttercup ranted.

The raven haired girl connected a pair of wires and made sure they were secure on the roof.

"Let 'er rip, Bubbles!" she called out.

Bubbles flipped on a switch and their house was instantly illuminated with colorful lights.

"Looks good." Buttercup commented.

"Luckily this year, we don't have to replace anything." Blossom added.

Bubbles flew down to the ground to see the house decorations for herself.

"I still think we shoulda used icicle lights this year." the baby-blue clad girl pouted.

"Really Bubbles, those things are a pain in the ass." Buttercup said.

Finally, Blossom was through with being outside in the nipping cold.

"Alright, let's get back inside please." she ranted. "My nose is running like crazy."

"Fine...Bubbles grab that box."

xxxxxxx

Back at the south eastern complex, the Rowdyruff Boys returned to their new dwellings with a huge pine tree in tow. They also made off with some decorations from other buildings in the city to put in their Christmas tree. And since the boys happened to come home with a surplus, they decided to decorate their pad anyway. The new dwellings apart from being considerably smaller than Townsville Hall, was rather cozy to say the least.

And the best part of it was, no one else was aware of their presence outside of their 'territory'.

Sitting on a recliner and watching the television set that they brought over from the Hall, Brick was momentarily content.

'_Now if we just invite Red over, then I'll really be complete._'

XXXXXXX

"Ahh...ah..achoo!"

Blossom was in her bed with a small mountain of used tissues building up on the edge of the bed. As she feared, the pink clad girl had caught the flu from being in the cold too long.

'_Great. Just perfect. I'm finally on Winter break and now I have to spend it sick._'

Buttercup had offered her stricken sister to go to the drug store and get her some medicine. Then Blossom reminded her that it was Sunday and that the drug store would closed.

"Aw dammit. Who the hell came up with that idea anyway?" the lime clad girl raved.

"Just wait until tomorrow, Buttercup." Blossom sighed. "One day won't kill me."

"Fine, but make sure you drink plenty of OJ willya?"

At least the good news was, the red-headed girl now had a legitimate excuse not to go outdoors. She could read her beloved books to her heart's content without getting mindlessly badgered by buttercup to get out and exercise.


	11. Chapter 10

**=Chapter 10=**

Later that day, when the Utonium family were sort of having an afternoon together, an unexpected guest appeared at their front door.

"Oh hey, Miss Bellum." Buttercup greeted. "Is there anything wrong?"

"Oh, not at all, Buttercup." the mayor replied. "I just wanted to stop by and give my Christmas wishes."

She had in her hands a homemade fruitcake.

"Aww, thanks." the raven-haired Powerpuff said. "Would you like to come in?"

"Sure, just for a few minutes." Bellum replied. "I'll be needing to get back to the office soon."

"Not a problem. Hot Cocoa?"

"No, thank you."

The tall perm-haired woman followed Buttercup into the house. Both Professor Utonium and Bubbles emerged from the kitchen.

"Well hello, Miss Bellum." the Professor greeted. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Professor." Bellum warmly replied. Then she noticed someone missing. "Why, where's Blossom?"

"She's in bed." Buttercup explained. "She caught the flu this morning."

"Oh, that's too bad. I hope she feels better."

"She'll be alright." Bubbles assured the mayor.

"Well anyway, the police have been getting reports about strange occurrences going on in the south eastern side of the city. But they couldn't find anything out of the ordinary."

"So you want us to check it out." Buttercup deduced.

"If it's not too much trouble. It would certainly give people some peace of mind."

"We'll get right on it."

"Thanks, girls. Well, I best be on my way. I'll see you all later, okay?"

"See you later, Miss Bellum." Bubbles said.

"And thanks for the fruit cake!" Buttercup added.

"You're welcome. And Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!"

With that, the mayor left. As she went into her town car, a figure in the distance was watching everything. It was Boomer. Today was his turn to spy and keep tabs on the Utonium Family. As soon as Miss Bellum had left, he went straight back to his brothers' home.

XXXXXXX

"Hey! Hey, dudes!" the blue clad boy called out as he burst into the house. "I think we've been found out!"

"What the hell are ya talkin' about?" Brick replied, cracking an eye open from snoozing on a recliner.

"That mayor bitch is on to us."

"Is she now?"

"Yeah, she's gettin' the girlies to come over and do their snooping."

Butch started to look a little alarmed, but Brick didn't seemed to be bothered by it and visually kept his cool.

"If she's throwin' them into the mix, that can only mean that the stupid cops tried to lookin' for us and failed." Brick deduced.

"So, whaddya wanna do, bro?" Butch asked.

"Well, if we want to keep this shit our little secret, we should probably take a lil' detour back to that mansion for a bit."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Boomer spoke up. "It looks like Red's sick too."

That caught Brick's attention.

"What the fuck do you mean she's _sick_?!" he demanded.

"Well her sisters were talkin' about her catching the flu or somethin'." Boomer explained.

Before the Rowdyruff leader had a chance to fume, Butch suddenly had an idea.

"Hey, Brick. I think that's the opportunity we've been waitin' for. That'll make it easier for you to grab Red." the green clad boy told his brother.

Brick then went deep into thought.

"You know, you've got a point there dude." he said. "Why don't we go ahead and leave the pad for a bit, just to see what those girlies plan to do next."

"Cool." Brick's brothers said together.

XXXXXXX

The next day, Bubbles and Buttercup left the house to investigate the south eastern district of Townsville. So far, there wasn't anything that appeared out of the ordinary. Everything seemed to be perfectly normal. The two even visited people's homes to ask them about the alleged happenings in that area.

Some citizens reported hearing noises that disturbed the peaceful quiet of the night. Others claimed that while that was true, the occurrences ceased after the police started investigating and then went on to praise them and the Powerpuff Girls for keeping Townsville safe. Finally, Buttercup and Bubbles left for home.

"So what do you think?" Bubbles asked softly.

"I don't know. It sounds like a couple of punk having a wild party." Buttercup replied. "I think it stopped when they found out the cops were getting in on it."

"Yeah, you could be right."

"Let's just keep our eyes and ears open on this in case if it happens again."

"Okay."

They arrived home to find their pink clad sister up and about with the Professor.

"Hey, you're supposed to be in bed." the raven-haired girl scolded.

"I wanted to eat breakfast." Blossom protested. "And besides, I'm feeling a little better anyway."

The two sisters exchanged annoyed narrowed glares at each other. Then Buttercup turned back towards the front door.

"Now where are you going?" Bubbles exclaimed.

"Going to get lil' Miss Uppity her flu medication." the lime clad girl ranted.

With that, she took to the air and left. Then Bubbles gave Blossom a bit of an exasperated face.

"What?" Blossom questioned.

"I just wish you two would get along already." the blonde-haired girl scolded.

Bubbles went into the kitchen with the Professor while Blossom gave out a huff and floated up the stairs.

XXXXXXX

Buttercup soared through the skies above Townsville. Then she touched back down to the ground in front of a Pharmacy. She proceeded inside the drug store to search for some medicine for her ailing red-headed sister.

"Hello there, Buttercup." the store owner greeted. "Need help with anything?"

"Nope, I'm cool." Buttercup replied. "Thanks tho."

The raven-haired girl proceeded to the medicine aisle. Suddenly, there was a huge explosion, making her nearly fall over.

"Wha...What the hell?!"

Getting quickly to her feet, Buttercup took to the air to see what caused the explosion. Standing in the giant hole in the wall now on the building, was Brick.

"'Sup lil' lady?" he greeted smugly.

"What the fuck do _you_ want?!" the lime clad Powerpuff barked.

"Oh nuttin' much. Maybe to kick some ass..."

"Gladly!"

Buttercup launched herself at the Rowdyruff leader, delivering various blows to the red clad boy. He didn't fight back at first, but a few minutes into the fight, he got into the act. Buttercup wasn't going to hold back this time. Nor was she in the mood to be at the butt of Brick's jokes. This punk was harassing her sister, and there was no way in hell she was going to let him get away with it.

However, Buttercup quickly noticed something. Brick's brothers weren't with him. In fact, they were nowhere to be seen or found. Something wasn't right.

"Hey, Brick!" the Powerpuff fighter called out. "Where the hell are your stupid brothers?!"

"Why, I thought you'd never ask." Brick sneered. "They're runnin' an errand for me. And you'll have to figure _that_ on your own."

Buttercup hit him with a street sign like a baseball player battering up. At first, she thought he was just spouting his usual crap. But as their dual carried on, the raven-haired realized that her sisters and the Professor were alone back at the house. Or should she say that Blossom and the Professor. Blossom was still a little too ill to fight, which left only Bubbles to defend the house. If Butch and Boomer should decide to go over there...

_Shit!_

Brick instantly saw the implications stirring in Buttercup's facial expressions.

_Oh no, you don't..._

He quickly grabbed a hold of her as she attempted to fly away and slammed her into the ground.

XXXXXXX

Back at the Utonium household, Bubbles was cleaning up the living room a little bit since it hadn't been done in a while. Her red-headed sister and father were upstairs asleep so she tried to be extra quiet.

Then suddenly, the front door was violently kicked open, startling the heck out poor Bubbles. Standing in the doorway was Butch and Boomer.

"_YOU!_" Bubbles cried out.

"Us." Boomer cracked.

"What the heck are you guys doing here?! Get out!"

Both Rowdyruff Boys grinned sadistically.

"Why don't you make us?" Butch sneered.

"Yeah, make us!" Boomer added.

"Boomer, shut the hell up."

Then, the green clad boy was abruptly zapped by Bubbles who next turned her attention on Boomer. But, just as Butch touched the ground, he got right back up and pummeled Bubbles to the floor.

"STOP!"

The three titans looked up to see who was calling them out. It was Blossom. The commotion alerted her outside her room. She was still in her pajamas from the night before.

"What do you want?" the pink clad girl asked the boys calmly in spite of the situation.

"I thought you'd never ask, Red." Butch replied with devilish glee. "Brick wants to see ya."

A look of restrained emotion came over Blossom's face. But with their fragile father in possible danger, she decided to just surrender.

"Fine. I'll go with you." she solemnly said.

"Blossom, wait!" Bubbles cried. "You can't!"

"Bubbles, would you watch the Professor for me please?"

"Yeah, you gotta babysit your daddy!" Boomer chortled.

Blossom instantly grabbed the collar of the blonde-haired boy's long-sleeved shirt.

"I'm going with you quietly." she hissed. "You don't need to push it."

With that, the two Rowdyruff Boys left with the Powerpuff leader in tow. Leaving behind a bewildered Bubbles.


	12. Chapter 11

**=Chapter 11=**

Buttercup and brick were still duking it out in the city all that time. Although she had her suspicions, Buttercup had no idea what was transpiring back at home.

"C'mon, lil' Miss Tweeny Bopper! Gimme your best shot!" Brick lauded.

"_Tweeny Bopper?!_" Buttercup cried. "Did you just fucking call me a Tweeny Bopper?!"

The raven-haired Powerpuff unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks on Brick as they fell through the air. They finally landed in a crater on the ground with Buttercup still punching the snot out of the Rowdyruff leader. Suddenly, she was blown away by an unseen offender. Weakly getting up and looking yonder, Brick saw that it was Boomer that got the lime clad girl off of him.

"Hey, bro! Need some help?" Boomer called out.

Instead of answering back, Brick shot himself at his blue clad brother and grabbed him by the shirt collar.

"You idiot, don't you have a job to do?!" the red clad boy quietly hissed.

"But I did it." Boomer protested. "I mean, Butch and I did it."

"And where the hell is Butch?"

"He's back at the pad."

"And Red?"

"He's babysittin' her."

Satisfied, Brick lowered his brother back to his feet.

"Good!" he said. "Now let's finish off the brunette."

"'Kay." Boomer replied.

The two Rowdyruff Boys then engaged a recovering Buttercup into a fight. She was only too happy to oblige them. But now she had a problem. It was now two against one. Hardly a fair fight, but neither of them even bothered to care. Buttercup gave it all she got but in the end, she was pummeled by Brick and Boomer into the asphalt creating another crater. The Boys only relinquished their blows when they were certain she was unconscious.

"Alright, let's beat it." Brick declared.

"Heh, heh, yeah!" Boomer giggled.

With that, the Rowdyruff pair took off. Leaving a battered Buttercup behind.

xxxxxxx

Bubbles had taken the risk of leaving the Professor alone in the house to go off and search for Buttercup. She was still in shock from what had happened an hour ago. The baby-blue clad girl still couldn't believe that Blossom had _willingly_ gone with the Rowdyruff Boys. What the heck was she thinking?! Finally, with the aide of her super-hearing, Bubbles located her lime clad sister, who was slowly coming out her state of unconsciousness. Bubbles was ever more shocked to see her all beaten up.

"Buttercup!" the blond-haired girl Powerpuff cried out.

"...nggh...Bubbles?" Buttercup croaked as she slowly rose from the crater and debris.

"What on earth happened to you?!"

"Brick, that's what happened."

"You too?! Butch and Boomer broke in and invaded the house and took Blossom!"

All the color in Buttercup's face drained away as her eyes widened in anger and disbelief.

"They did WHAT?!" she roared.

"They bust into the house and Blossom went with them!" Blossom cried, becoming more visibly upset.

"Is the Professor okay?"

"Yes, he's fine. They didn't even tough him."

That was a great relief. But still, didn't Blossom put up a fight?

"Whad they do with her?" Buttercup asked before spitting out a tooth.

"I...I don't know." Bubbles answered. "They just came and took her. She didn't even fight! She just _went_ with them!"

The raven-haired girl pinched the bridge of her nose and started to think. Offhand, Blossom probably didn't try to defend herself because she was still sort of down with the flu. Plus, she probably didn't want to get the Professor into danger if the Boys decided to start in on him too.

"What do we do, Buttercup?!" Bubbles cried.

"Well, the first thing we oughta do, is check on the Professor to make sure he's okay." Buttercup replied.

"But, what about Blossom?"

"We'll get her back. I promise."

XXXXXXX

Brick and Boomer arrived back at their newer pad which was now referred to as a safe house. When they got back, Boomer was about ready to turn in for the day.

"I hope there's some eggnog in the fridge or somethin'." he rambled to himself after yawning.

Brick went straight up the staircase and found his green clad brother against the wall next to the bathroom while reading a comic book.

"'Sup?" the Rowdyruff greeted.

"Red's in the master bedroom or whatever the hell people call it." Butch ranted.

Brick raised a brow at his seemingly annoyed attitude.

"She tick you off or what?" he asked curiously.

"Meh, I wanted to try those cigarette thingies, but _noooo_! Lil' Miss Princess over there can't have that!"

"Well, I guess that's because she's sick and all. But she'd probably complain anyway, wouldn't she?"

"Stupid goodie-goodie..."

"Eh, don't sweat over it too much. She can't be sick forever."

Butch grumbled something under his breath as he was 'relieved of duty' from his red-headed brother. Brick in turn went into the master bedroom and found his female counterpart curled up in the bed and sleeping. She figured that she wouldn't be hurt so long as Brick 'wanted' her. The Rowdyruff leader quietly made his way towards the bed and sat down next to her. Blossom fluttered her eyes open when she felt a hand gently pull the locks of red hair from her face.

"Hey there, sleepyhead." Brick quietly sneered with a playful grin.

Blossom, despite being tired, jolted upwards and pushed him away.

"What the hell are you thinking, Brick?!" she exclaimed. "You must have a really bad death wish!"

"And you can still blast someone's ears out." Brick replied dryly. "Jesus…"

"I'm not joking around, Brick."

"And neither am I."

Blossom huffed out a sigh and then a cough. She laid back down, figuring that arguing with Brick would be rather pointless right now. The red clad boy in turn laid next to her.

"So I understand we're not well." he mused.

Blossom narrowed her eyes.

"I do hope that wasn't the reason you brought me here." she said.

"Well sort of." Brick admitted. "But, I was already planning to bring you here anyway."

"I'm surprised that you've actually kept up the Townsville Hall."

"Heh, heh, you just keep tellin' yourself that, Red."

That really caught Blossom's attention.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" she rasped, raising her head a little.

"Meh, I won't have ya stress out over that." Brick sneered.

"I'm serious, Brick."

"So am I, Red. Fact of the matter is, I wanna have you over for a while. Eventually I'll let'cha go back to your sisters...maybe. And if they've got a problem with that, well that's just too fuckin' bad for them."

Blossom made a face and put her head back down. That pretty much shot down any negotiating for her release. Plus that and Brick wasn't forthcoming on their 'true' location. She would just have to play by his rules for now. Brick didn't hesitate to pull the pink clad girl into his arms. Blossom wanted to push him away and make him keep his distance, it would probably be better for her to cooperate. Figuring that right now she was a hostage.

XXXXXXX

Both Buttercup and Bubbles went straight to their own home and to their great relief, the Professor didn't seem to be aware of the situation that had unfolded. Now, with him secured and taken care of, they could plan a way to rescue their kidnapped sister from the Rowdyruff Boys.

"You're gonna have to come with me, Bubbles." the raven-haired girl said.

"But...what about the-" Bubbles started.

"We don't have a choice, Bubbles. We're gonna have to leave him behind for now. We're one man down, so to speak and we need to get Blossom back fast." Buttercup explained.

"Well...okay."

The two Powerpuff Girls set off to the part of Townsville that was taken over by the Rowdyruff Boys. This part of the city was even more desolate than it was in the past year. One odd thing that first caught their attention was the fact that the Boys didn't seem to be anywhere in sight.

'_What the hell is going on?_' Buttercup thought. '_By now, those jerks should've been onto to us_.'

They continued through the dying area that was now nearly covered in snow. Bubbles was starting to feel the biting cold from the frost. Finally, the girls reached the Rowdyruff's former HQ which was the Townsville Hall. It made Buttercup's blood boil to see the town hall in ruins like that. In fact, it was just a mere shadow of its former self. When they entered the building, the front doors literally fell off their hinges. The lobby was in terrible disrepair. Paint was peeling off the walls, the electrical wires were mostly exposed, and wherever there was wood paneling, was rotting. Anyone with good sense would say that the building needed to be condemned.

"It sure is cold in here." Bubbles said with a shiver.

"Let's go." Buttercup replied.

They proceeded inside the Hall, being cautious of the both the possibly of the building coming apart, and the Rowdyruff Boys lurking about. But for the most part, everything was dreadfully quiet. The two girls searched every nook and cranny of the Hall. Not once did they see or hear the Boys, nor their sister.

'_What the fuck is this?!_' Buttercup thought. '_They should be here!_'

Both girls were becoming more and more frantic as each room they hit turned up empty. Soon they threw their caution to the wind and resolved to just be prepared for whatever came at them. But still, there was no sign of the Rowdyruff Boys or Blossom anywhere.

"Dammit!" Buttercup cursed aloud.

"Buttercup, I don't think anyone's in her at all." Bubbles cried.

"They jumped ship those sons of bitches! They knew we be hittin' this place first."

"So...what do we do?"

"Bring out the big guns, that's what!"


	13. Chapter 12

**=Chapter 12=**

When Blossom next work up, her throat had gotten so sore and scratchy that she began a coughing jag. Brick, who was snoozing beside her, woke up from the sound of her trying to clear her throat.

"What's with you?" the red clad boy asked.

"My*cough* throat is*cough-cough* burning*cough*." Blossom croaked.

Then her coughing jag got a bit harsher, which prompted the Rowdyruff leader to start tenderly rubbing her back.

"Hey, hey, hey, take it easy there." he told her. "You'll cough up a freakin' lung."

Blossom took a moment to clear her throat again and then laid back down. She honestly felt like crap.

"Uggghh...I feel really, really bad." she whined.

Then, something occurred to Brick. Quickly, he got out of bed and zipped to the bedroom in the hall.

'_Where the hell is that stuff that Boomer got the other day?_' he mentally rambled.

Finally, after rummaging through the cabinet underneath the sink, the red-headed boy found what he was looking for. It was a bottle of grape cough medicine. Brick took it back to the room he was sharing with Blossom.

"Hey, Red." he called out. "Take some of this. It might clear ya up."

"What is it?" the Powerpuff leader moaned.

"Cough Syrup."

"What pray tell, are you doing with cough syrup?"

"Fuck if I know. Boomer brought it into the pad the other day."

Blossom let out a sigh and took the bottle from her male counterpart. She checked the label to make sure it wasn't expired and to see what correct dosage she had to take. Then the pink clad girl took the medicine and let out a cough afterwards.

"Guh...where'd your brother get this stuff?" Blossom cried.

"Like I said, Red I don't know. If it bothers you that much, go ask Boomer yourself." Brick ranted.

Blossom rolled her eyes at him and curled back up on the bed, kinda hoping he'd leave her alone. While Brick did leave to put the medicine away in the bathroom area of the master bedroom, he then came back over to Blossom. She made unhappy face when she noticed snuggling up to her.

"Just out of curiosity, hoy long to you plan on holding me hostage?" the pink clad girl asked dryly.

"Hostage, Red?" Brick remarked. "Interesting choice of words. But to answer your question, as long as I want to."

"I see..." Blossom murmured.

"But I wouldn't think of ya as a hostage, Red. You're a guest after all."

"Uh-huh..."

Despite Brick's smugness, this had bad written all over. No doubt there would be repercussions. Blossom didn't know if he was doing this just for kicks or if he had lost his mind. Nevertheless, the Powerpuff leader knew that whatever would happen, it would not end well.

XXXXXXX

The two remaining Powerpuff Girls went to the new Townsville Hall to alert the Mayor on the current situation. Ordinarily, the Girls wouldn't do this under normal circumstances, but since this was an emergency, it was needed.

"Blossom's been kidnapped by the Rowdyruff Boys?" Ms. Bellum cried.

"That's right, and we may need your help." Buttercup explained. "Bubbles and I believe that the Boys might have relocated elsewhere."

"What can I do?"

"We could use some assistance from the military on like a search and retrieve mission. You can leave the Boys to us."

"What about DYNAMO? Can we use that?"

"Well...we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"What makes you think that the boys relocated?"

"The old Townsville Hall was pretty much abandoned and deserted when Bubbles and I got there."

"Yeah, that's right." Bubbles agreed. "And they didn't attack us when we went into their territory."

"If the Rowdyruff Boys abandoned the old hall, this could be a good opportunity to recover it." Bellum said.

Both Buttercup and Bubbles exchanged solemn glances.

"I...think that's a lost cause now, Ms. Bellum." the lime clad girl said. "The place is literally close to falling apart."

"I see..."

The three women had a brief pause then. They all had high hopes of one day being able to recover the Townsville Hall from the Rowdyruff Boys. With the fact that the mansion was close to ruins, those hopes were now turns to dust.

"Alright, I'll send in the marines." the mayor said. "But the both of you be careful out there. We don't need casualties."

"Crystal clear, ma'am." Buttercup said.

XXXXXXX

Meanwhile back at their pad, Butch went outside to try the cigarettes he had obtained earlier. Also curious about the death sticks, Boomer followed him outdoors.

"Hey, lemme try some too!" the blue clad boy whined.

"Hang on a minute!" Butch ranted.

The green clad boy lit one stick and placed it in his mouth. After inhaling, Butch let out a few harsh coughs. Boomer watched in awe.

"So how was it?" he asked.

"*Cough-Cough*Uggh...piece of shit's pretty harsh." Butch rasped as his face turned a little red.

"Lemme try, lemme try!"

As the raven-haired Rowdyruff continued to nearly cough his brains out, Boomer took the death stick into his own mouth to sample it. He too had the same reactions.

"Whoa*cough* holy crap*cough-cough* that _is_ powerful stuff." the blonde-haired boy rasped.

A few minutes later, all their coughing and hacking gained the attention of their red clad brother and leader.

"Hey, what the hell are you doin' out here?" he ranted.

"We're tryin' cigarettes!" Boomer exclaimed.

"Shut up, Boomer."

"*Cough-Cough* Buh-Brick, this stuff packs one helluva punch*cough-cough*." Butch hacked.

"Does it now?" Brick replied with a raised brow. "Maybe I'll try some later. But for right now, ya mind keepin' it down a bit? Red's sleepin'."

"Again? What is she, a mole?" Butch ranted.

"Meh, probably. But she does have that stupid flu."

"Oh yeah, I forget about that."

"I gave her some of Boomer's cough syrup so, her 'sickness' shouldn't last too much longer."

"Thank God..."

"Hey, that was _my_ stuff!" Boomer cried.

"But anyway.." Brick continued, ignoring his blue clad brother. "..I got a job for ya."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup. It's gettin' a little too quiet around here. I want you guys to go see what those other two bitches are up to."

"Do we get to beat 'em up?" Boomer asked eagerly.

"...meh, don't do anything to 'em yet. I just wanna know what the hell they're up to."

"Right." Butch said. "C'mon butthead."

"Hey! Don't call me a butthead!" Boomer exclaimed.

With that, the two boys took to the air. Then Brick went deep into thought.

'_Somethin' tells me that they already hit our old pad. Which isn't really bad news, because it's pretty much a hell hole right now..._'

The Rowdyruff leader went back inside and switched on the TV. He then tuned into the news channel which wasn't broadcasting anything really important. To him at least.

'_Well, this could mean one or two things. That, that stupid mayor bitch doesn't know squat about this, or she does and is keepin' it under wraps. But, we'll know soon enough...'_

XXXXXXX

Back at the Utonium household, the professor was blissfully unaware of the fact that one of his daughters was M.I.A. Whenever they were gone, he just assumed that his children were out crime fighting and what not. But, without any of the girls to watch him, thing could take a turn for the worse.

The frail scientist went into the living room to watch the evening news. It was broadcasting the weather report, saying that there would be much more snow coming into the area. Then suddenly, a breaking news report came onto the screen.

"_In a shocking turn of events..._" the news lady declared. "..._it appears that the Powerpuff Girls leader, Blossom Utonium, also current student of Townsville High School, has been abducted by the Rowdyruff Boys earlier this afternoon. The two remaining Powerpuff Girls are engage in a city wide search for their sister. Mayor Bellum is advising citizens to remain inside their homes for their own safety while this search is in progress..._"

Then, the professor felt his weak heart suddenly stop at hearing the report. His breathing became labored as sharp chest pains roared through his muscles. A few seconds later, Professor Utonium slumped over and fell to the floor.


	14. Chapter 13

**=Chapter 13=**

Buttercup, Bubbles, and a large team of stealth marines entered the desolate half of Townsville, conducting an extensive search for Blossom. They took over the old Townsville Hall and placed caution tape around the building to warn others that the interior of the mansion could be dangerous.

Afterward, they began covering more of the area. But no matter whatever stone they unturned, there was no sign of Blossom or the Rowdyruff Boys anywhere. Something that was starting to drive both Bubbles and Buttercup absolutely crazy. Just where the hell were these guys?

'_Dammit! This sucks!_'

Meanwhile, the other two Rowdyruff Boys came into the area and instantly took cover when they spotted the stealth marines with their X-ray vision.

"Wha-what the hell?" Boomer cried.

"Shit! They're everywhere!" Butch exclaimed. "I didn't expect the girlies to go this far."

"So, let's kick their asses!"

"Wait a minute, we oughta tell Brick first."

"Aww man..."

"C'mon."

Without hesitating and surprisingly without instigating a fight, the boys took off to warn their brother. Meanwhile, most of the area that had been taken over by the boys in the first place, was thoroughly unearthed and still the search for Blossom had turned up fruitless. Soon, Buttercup and Bubbles regrouped at the main rendezvous point in front of the Townsville Hall.

"It's no use." the lime clad girl lamented. "Blossom isn't here. And neither are the Boys."

"But where else can she possibly be?" Bubbles asked.

"It's a shot in the dark at this rate. We might have to do something to smoke out the Boys."

"You mean like luring them out of hiding?"

"Yeah, exactly."

Then a marine came over to them with a radio.

"Ladies?" he said. "You got an urgent call from the Mayor."

Buttercup took the radio from him and spoke into it.

"Ms. Bellum?"

"Buttercup? You and Bubbles need to come to hospital right away."

"...Why? What for?"

"The Professor...had a heart attack."

XXXXXXX

Blossom woke from a terrible dream when the sun rose that morning. She dreamt that her family had suddenly disappeared without a trace. Lost forever. Tiny beads of sweat trickled down her face as she regained her bearings. Blossom's fast paced breathing attracted some really unwanted attention. Brick had heard her gasping lightly and came into the master bedroom to investigate.

"What's goin' with you over there?" he asked.

"Brick I...I got to get back home." the red-headed girl rasped.

"Nuh-uh. You lil' missy, are stayin' right here."

Before Blossom even had a chance to even get up out of bed, Brick flew to her side and wrapped his arms around her waist. The pink clad girl in turn attempted to wriggle her way free, but Brick wasn't having any of it.

"Ngh! Let go of me!" the Powerpuff leader cried.

"I. Said. NO." Brick declared.

Blossom tried fidgeting instead, but it was no use. She was still a bit ill and only gave Brick an advantage.

"I think you're in need of some TLC, Red." the Rowdyruff leader sneered.

Blossom didn't quite get his point until it was too late. He gently pushed her down, causing her to squeak in surprise and he captured her in a lip lock which only took a few seconds to make her melt. She didn't know how the hell he was doing it. Somehow, Brick was just able to pull the pink clad girl underneath his thumb. She knew it wasn't his 'charms' because they...well, sucked to be perfectly honest. Strangely enough, Blossom kissed back, slightly moaning. Perhaps it would be better to just play by _his_ rules for now. She'd gain nothing from pissing him off, and her disappearance couldn't have gone unnoticed. Her sisters were most likely looking for her.

'_The problem is that I have no idea where they've taken me. It's obviously not the Townsville Hall._' Blossom thought.

Brick hasn't told her about their current location, and if he could help it, he never would. For him, things worked better if he kept Blossom in the dark for as long as he could. As it was, Brick never let her out of the master bedroom, something which was about to drive Blossom up the wall. Finally, the pair parted from their embrace.

"You realize that I'm sick, right?" Blossom pointed right.

"Ask me if I give a crap, Red." Brick remarked.

Then he buried his face into the cleft of the red-headed girl's neck.

XXXXXXX

Buttercup and Bubbles rushed to the hospital as fast as they could. Guilt, fear, and hope were overriding their brains during their flight. When they finally made it, Ms. Bellum, and the Head Nurse were waiting in the lobby.

"Wuh-where is he?!" Buttercup rasped.

"Room 142-"

The two girls zipped down to the hall before the Head Nurse could finish. What they saw next nearly tore them apart. Professor Utonium was on a bio-bed and hooked up to the life support, which at this point was the only thing keeping him alive. Bubbles immediately flew to his side.

"Professor! Professor, can you hear me?!" the blonde-haired girl cried with tears nearly filling her eyes.

He didn't answer nor seemed to hear her. Buttercup instantly recognized that he had gone downhill. Ms. Bellum and the Doctor treating Utonium joined them shortly thereafter.

"...what happened to him?" Buttercup asked in a low voice.

"The Professor suffered a severe heart attack, miss." the Doctor replied.

"...is he..is he gonna be okay?"

"We're not sure. For now, he's responding to treatment. We can keep you informed if there any changes."

The raven-haired girl suppressed a growl. Things were really going down the crapper. First Blossom was kidnapped and now this. Ms. Bellum, sensing the aura emitting from Buttercup, went over to her and gently place a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, girls." she said softly.

"...it's...it's not your fault." Buttercup murmured. "We shouldn't have left him by himself."

"You wanted to rescue your sister. That's nothing to beat yourself up over."

"But we didn't ever find her! We have no freaking idea where those assholes have taken her."

Then the lime clad girl realized that she just mouthed off to the mayor.

"Sorry, Ms. Bellum." she muttered.

"Well you haven't lost yet." Bellum replied. "If we all know one thing about the Rowdyruff Boys, is that they won't sit still forever."

"That's true, she's right." Bubbles said softly.

There was a moment of silence as Buttercup thought about what to do next.

"Okay, we need to figure out a way to lure them out of hiding." she said.

XXXXXXX

Blossom was sound asleep on Brick's chest with the red-headed boy stroking her hair as if he were petting a kitten. The cough medicine that she had taken earlier had relieved her throat and a bit of her flu, but she would need the correct medicine for the latter.

A few minutes later, Brick heard his brother's rushing back to the pad. Letting out a heavy sigh, he carefully put Blossom aside and got up. When he came to the porch of the condo, Butch and Boomer had just arrived.

"Dude! Those girlies brought the fucking marines onto our side of town!" Butch exclaimed.

"Yeah, they're all over the place!" Boomer added.

"Damn. Those bitches are going all out aren't they?" Brick said.

"So what the hell are we gonna do about it?" Butch asked.

"Well, if they wanna play dirty then we'll give them _dirty_. And if they've got the marines runnin' around, that means they couldn't do something by themselves."

Both Butch and Boomer blinked a few times.

"Hey you got a point there." Butch said.

"And they call themselves, _super heroes_." Boomer quipped.

"Shut up, Boomer." Brick growled.

"So let's see, if we can keep Red in our pad, we can outnumber them right?"

"That could work. Plus those marines are bunch of jokes anyway." Brick said.

"But they still don't know where we're at, right?" Boomer asked. "Isn't that an advantage?"

"That's true actually. But it could easily change. You're using you brain again, Boomer."

"Oh whatever!"

"So do we stay put, go get 'em, what?" Butch asked.

"We'll keep 'em in the dark just a wee bit longer, just so we can what they'll do next." Brick said. "Then will give those fuckers the throw down."

Meanwhile, inside the condo and unbeknownst to the Boys, Blossom while using her super hearing, heard every word.


	15. Chapter 14

**=Chapter 14=**

With Ms. Bellum's assistance, more stealth marines poured into the half of Townsville that had once been ruled by the Rowdyruff Boys with an iron fist. They secured houses, shops, and warehouses that were within eyeshot. Although it was satisfying to be retrieving all that property again, they still couldn't uncover the whereabouts of Blossom or the Boys. With each section cleared out and turning up empty, frustration and worry hit Buttercup and Bubbles really hard. Bubbles was also getting scared that they might never find their pink clad sister.

'_Oh Blossom, where can you be?_'

XXXXXXX

The Powerpuff leader in question was now trying to figure out how to escape her captors. She obviously couldn't make any moves as long as Brick was watching her with an eagle eye as with the rest of his brothers. If anything, they weren't going to let her out of their sight. She had to think of a way of getting out of the condo complex without them noticing. Another problem was Brick himself. Over the time that they had been together, he was able to read her like a book. Meaning if she wasn't careful with her facial expressions or if she was concentrating too hard, Brick would suspect that she was up to something.

'_I'm probably gonna have to play it all by ear._' she thought. '_I gotta take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself. After all, they can't watch me forever._'

Then, Brick came into the room forcing Blossom to shut her mind off. She heaved out a big sigh which unintentionally caught the red clad boy's attention.

"What's up, Red?" he asked.

"Other than being bored out of my mind, nothing much." his female counterpart sarcastically replied.

Brick arched a brow at her, but then smirked. For some reason, Blossom being smart with him, turned the Rowdyruff leader on.

"Can I at least get up and walk around?" she asked.

"Oh sure, but I won't let you go outside."

'_Gee, I wonder why..._'

Blossom pulled herself up and got to her feet. Her legs were a little bit shaky and heavy due to inactivity for the past 16 hours. The Powerpuff leader almost fell to the floor because of it. Brick caught her before she landed.

"Heh, ya sure you want to be up and about there, Red?" Brick joked.

"Shut up, Brick." Blossom cursed.

Brick chuckled at her response as she pushed him away.

'_I swear, he can be such a jerk..._' she thought.

She went down the stair and returned the evil eye that both Butch and Boomer were giving her. Blossom made her way towards the kitchen area of the condo. The red-headed girl was a bit shocked to at the kind of the food that the Boys had stocked up, but it didn't really surprise her.

"Don't you have anything here besides junk food?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Oh we'd get you OJ, Red, but unfortunately your marine friends are out and about." Brick quirked.

"Well if that the case, perhaps you should let me go?" Blossom remarked.

"Yeah right, like that will happen." Butch scoffed.

At this point, Blossom was about ready to throw a rage fit. She slammed the refrigerator door closed, nearly breaking it, and went towards the kitchen sink.

'_I swear to God, this better have fresh water..._'

XXXXXXX

By now, the whole area taken over by the Rowdyruff Boys was recovered and put under control by the stealth marines. It was clear that the Boys were no longer operating in that area. But they had to be in Townsville somewhere. Buttercup met back with Bubbles at another rendezvous point.

"Alright, that got us nowhere." Buttercup ranted.

"So what now?" Bubbles asked.

"We could conduct a city wide search." a marine suggested.

"Yeah, but that could take literally forever." the lime clad girl lamented.

Then, with a startling gasp, Bubbles suddenly recalled something important.

"Wait a minute!" she cried out. "Buttercup, remember when Ms. Bellum asked us to investigate s few days ago?"

"Well, yeah." Buttercup replied. "What about it?"

"What if they went there?! What if it wasn't a bunch of party goers making the disturbances?! What if it was the Boys instead?!"

Buttercup took a second to absorb her baby-blue clad sister's words. Then she grabbed a hold of her.

"Bubbles, you're a god damned freaking genius!" the raven-haired girl exclaimed.

Bubbles giggled as Buttercup turned to the marine next to her.

"Can you get me on the phone with the mayor?" Buttercup asked.

"Sure, one second."

xxxxxxx

Ms. Bellum was at her desk when her desk phone rang out, prompting her to answer it.

"Bellum here." she said.

"Ms. Bellum, we knew where the Rowdyruff Boys have Blossom!" Buttercup breathlessly said on the other end.

"You do..?"

"Yes! They've been at the south eastern area of Townsville this entire time!"

"Are you...are you sure?"

"Positive. Trust Bubbles and I on this!"

"...Alright. I'll have the Marines-"

"Actually Ms. Bellum, Bubbles and I are going to go solo."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. Just have the Marines make sure that everybody else stays safe."

"...Okay, Buttercup. But you and Bubbles stay safe yourselves. Understood?"

"Right."

After hanging up, the lime clad girl turned to her blonde-haired sister.

"Come on, let's go." she told her.

XXXXXXX

Blossom had made her way back to the master bedroom, after only spending a few minutes downstairs. Life with the Rowdyruff Boys was already wearing thin on her. Their immature nature was almost unbearable to be around. And Brick was no better. He followed her up the stairs with interest, which got on his female counterpart's nerves.

"Brick, for the love of God, can you leave me the hell alone?" the pink clad girl exclaimed.

"What's eatin' you?" Brick nonchalantly asked. "And do you really think I'm gonna do that?"

"I wish you would. Just once."

For some odd reason, something clicked inside the Rowdyruff leader's head which caused an old but strange feral reactions. He zipped right over to her and scooped her up, holding her tight and close to him. Blossom was not liking this at all.

"Brick! What the hell?" she exclaimed as they landed on the bed.

"Put a sock in it, Red." Brick murmured.

He kissed her again, this time a little more passionately, which slightly surprised his rival. And like many times before, she completely melted under his embrace, no matter how hard her inner conscience screamed at her at how wrong this was. Meanwhile, Brick was enjoying every second of it, despite how Blossom felt about it or him. His secret was that he learned how to pull her strings and play her like a violin.

'_She doesn't realize how fun she makes this..._' he mentally sneered.

Suddenly, he, Blossom, as well as the other two Rowdyruff Boys downstairs heard something with their super hearing. It was the remaining Powerpuff Girls entering the area. But they were alone and not accompanied by stealth marines.

'_Heh, about damn time..._' Brick thought.

"Hey Brick!" Butch called from downstairs.

"Yeah, yeah, I know..."

He slowly got off of Blossom and began to head downstairs.

"Hey, wait a minute." Blossom spoke up. "You know how this is gonna end, right?"

"Oh sure." Brick replied. "But one can only hope that they'll be out of shape from wasting their energy lookin' for ya."

Blossom made an irritated face at him as he left the room.

'_Arrogant asshole..._'

xxxxxxx

Butch went straight to Brick as soon as he came downstairs.

"Alright, they're comin' so now what?" the green clad boy asked.

"What we always do, boys." Brick casually replied. "What we've been doing for the past 12 years. Give them the night of their lives."

"But what about Red?" Boomer added.

"You let me worry about her. She's not much up to a fight anyway."

"Oh yeah, so that still leaves the girlies outnumbered." Butch murmured.

"And if worst comes to shove, we'll do what we shoulda done months ago. We annihilate Townsville."


	16. Chapter 15

**=Chapter 15=**

Despite her current predicament, Blossom was so relieved that her sisters had finally come to her rescue. She could finally get out of that hell hole. The Powerpuff leader wondered if she should start beating up her male counterparts now, but better judgment told her not to.

'_Be patient._' she mentally told himself. '_Attack when you get good opportunity._'

XXXXXXX

Buttercup and Bubbles roared into the South Eastern area of Townsville where they were confronted by the disgruntled landlord of the condos.

"What is the meaning of this, Powerpuff Girls?" he cried. "These apartments are about to open soon! I can't have this!"

"Hate to be rude sir, but we know for sure that the Rowdyruff Boys are in there and we're flushing them out." Buttercup said staunchly. "You got a problem with that, you can take it up with the Mayor."

That's when the land lord immediately lost his haughtiness.

"...Please don't think ill of me. Those boys forced me to let them come here."

"We'll get rid of them you, don't worry." Bubbles said.

"Ha, ha, as if!"

Suddenly, the land lord was zapped at by an unseen offender. Looking up, the two Powerpuffs saw Butch in the air.

"'Bout time you girlies showed up." the green clad boy sneered.

Buttercup launched herself at her male counterpart delivering a series of punches and kicks at him. Bubbles joined in and shortly thereafter, until Boomer came along and knocked her off of Butch. Meanwhile, Buttercup grabbed a hold of her rival by the neck.

"Where. Is. She?!" the raven-haired girl demanded.

"You'll never know." Butch sneered.

Furious, Buttercup started punching him again. Butch however managed to get out of her hold and fight back. Meanwhile, Bubbles was holding her own with her male counterpart who kept blasting powerballs at her. The baby-blue girl tried to dodge all of them. Finally, she got an idea to beat the blue clad boy. One thing Bubbles had on her side was the fact that Boomer wasn't very bright.

"Hey, Boomer!" Bubbles called out. "Catch me if you can!"

As the blonde-haired girl soared into the sky, Boomer promptly followed her. If she could distract him long enough, Bubbles could knock him out.

"Come and get me!" she giggled.

Boomer meanwhile was getting ever more enraged and frustrated, that it started to blind him from his task. Then Bubbles made her move. She knocked out her male counterpart with her laser eyes and rendered him dizzy. With Buttercup and Butch still preoccupied with each other, Bubbles quietly proceeded into the complex tuning into her super hearing. Then, the baby-blue clad Powerpuff picked up Blossom and Brick's voices arguing with each other.

'_I found them!_' Bubbles thought.

XXXXXXX

Blossom sat on the bed with her arms folded. Brick was absolutely impossible. Why couldn't he just admit defeat already? The red clad boy picked up Bubbles' aura and went to the hall and waited.

Bubbles burst into the condo and began her search for her pink clad sister. Since she definitely wasn't downstairs, she decide to look upstairs instead. Then she was met with the Rowdyruff leader himself.

"Where is she?!" the blonde-haired girl demanded.

However, Brick looked a bit disappointed.

"Just you?" he bemoaned. "I was hopin' the brunette would beat ya to the punch."

"Shut the hell up! Where's Blossom?!"

"Ooo, aren't we just tough?"

Suddenly, Bubbles saw Blossom floating silently out of the master bedroom. The red-headed girl made eye contact with her sister, mentally telling her to keep the Rowdyruff leader's attention on herself.

"I'm not gonna ask you again, Brick." Bubbles cried, playing along. "Where is Blossom?"

"What are you, my mother?" Brick ranted nonchalantly.

Then Blossom mouthed 'now' to her baby-blue clad sister and the both of them fired their laser-eyes at the red clad boy. Not expecting a 'double whammy' of sorts, Brick was caught completely off guard and was stunned momentarily by the red hot energy. As soon as he was down for the count, Blossom rushed towards Bubbles' side.

"Come on, let's get the hell outta here." the Powerpuff leader cried.

"Right." Bubbles replied.

The two Powerpuff Girls blasted their way out of the condo and took to the air. Buttercup, who was still battling Butch, saw her sisters coming towards them and gave the raven-haired boy a sucker punch. Blossom and Bubbles in turn, zapped Butch with their lasers, instantly knocking him out. The Girls regrouped and fled from the area.

"Am I glad to see you guys." Blossom rasped.

"Nevermind us." Buttercup interjected. "What about you? How are you holding up?"

"I'm alright. Just a little stuffed up still..."

"Well, we'll get you fixed up in no time, Bloss."

They continued towards the main center of Townsville when the pink clad girl suddenly recalled something.

"Hey, how's the Professor?"

Both Buttercup and Bubbles gave each grave faces.

"We'll tell you when we get there." the lime clad girl said.

XXXXXXX

When all three of the Powerpuff Girls returned to the hospital, Buttercup insisted that Blossom be put on antibiotics. Within an hour, the red-headed girl was feeling a little more better then she had been. Then, the raven-haired girl broke the news.

"W-what?!" Blossom cried. "What do you mean the Professor had a heart attack?"

"It just happened Blossom." Buttercup said softly. "There's not much we can really do about it. Even if we are friggin' super heroes..."

"But how...how did this happen? We were so careful..."

"Yeah, we _were_ careful. But...I've been thinking about this for a bit. Maybe...maybe it's just his time. Granted he's only 53, maybe his body just can't handle it anymore after all that happened."

There was a silence between each of the Powerpuff sisters.

"But...what are we gonna do without him?" Blossom said in a little voice.

"I don't know...yet." Buttercup admitted. "Let's just hope and pray for the best."

"...okay."

Then Bubbles came floating into the room carrying a few parcels.

"Hey, are you hungry? I bought a sandwich from the cafeteria." she said.

"...Sure. I could eat some real food." Blossom replied.

xxxxxxx

A few hours later, Ms. Bellum came to the hospital after receiving word that Blossom was recovered. However, with the Rowdyruff Boys still at large, Townsville remained on yellow alert for the most part.

"Nice to have you back, Blossom." Ms. Bellum said.

"It's nice to be back." Blossom dryly remarked.

"So what are the boys up to?"

"They were hiding out in the new condos." Buttercup explained. "Only God knows know why."

"And if I know Brick all too well, he'll certainly come back to hit us." Blossom pointed out. "He and his brothers hate losing."

"True that." Bubbles agreed.

"So, how shall we proceed from this point?" Ms. Bellum asked.

"Well, I guess we wait." Buttercup said. "They're not going stay down for the count for long."

"That's for sure." Bubbles added.

As the discussion went back and forth, a doctor came into the room wearing a grave expression.

"Girls?" he softly and politely called out.

The sisters went over to him to hear what he had to say.

"The Professor's had another episode. I'm afraid there's not much more we can do."

All the three of the sisters stared at the surgeon in total disbelief. This was a joke right? It had to be. Finally, it was Buttercup who plucked up some courage to speak up.

"How...how long does he have?" she asked meekly.

"Well, it could be minutes now."

The girls looked at each other with grief striking their features and hearts. They floated out of the room one by into the hall as Ms. Bellum fought her own emotions.

At least they had time to say a final goodbye to their father.


	17. Chapter 16

**=Chapter 16=**

Not even barely 24 hours since Blossom was liberated from Rowdyruff capture, the Boys were already causing mass destruction throughout Townsville and not caring if they hurt or killed anybody. Their agenda was to cause enough damage as possible. And as they cruelly surmised before, the marines and even the local police trying to maintain order, stood no chance against the Boys.

Meanwhile, as the sun was setting on the horizon, the Powerpuff Girls had been very despondent since the life support system was finally switched off and allowing Professor Utonium to enter the next plane of existence. The Girls were now orphans without a father. The bittersweet thing about it was that it made them even with their male counterparts as their own creator met his demise earlier. The major difference however, was that the Girls were devastated to lose their father, while the Boys didn't even bat an eye with theirs.

After the Professor was carried away to the morgue, Ms. Bellum quietly went into the room where the Girls were seated in. The TV set in the room was tuned to the news channel which was broadcasting what was happening in the city center.

"How much time to you three need?" she asked gently.

"For what?" Buttercup asked.

"How much time do you need to yourselves?"

There was a long silence, but Bellum was patient.

"We don't have much time to grieve if that's what you're getting at." Buttercup finally replied. "Brick, Butch, and Boomer are already tearing into the city. We gotta act now."

"Just a minute. You don't need to do this. Let me handle this one this time." Bellum said.

"Don't worry, Ms. Bellum." Bubbles assured her. "Just let us fight and maybe this time, we'll take of the Boys once and for all."

"And besides, we're the only ones who can handle it." Blossom added.

The trio began floating out of the room and zipped out of the hospital despite Ms. Bellum's pleas to stop.

"Wait!"

The Powerpuff Girls headed for the Townsville city center only to find it nearly engulfed in flames. Flames that were caused by the Rowdyruff Boys tossing cars around and blowing buildings. At this point, civilians already had fled the area for their lives and only marines, the local police and firemen were left to face the Boys' wrath. By the time the Powerpuff Girls arrived most of the city center had been nearly deserted. And it didn't take long for their male counterparts to take notice of their presence.

"Evenin', ladies." Brick sneered. "Ya diggin' the fireworks?"

Without answering him, the Girls launched their attack on the Boys. The fray quickly turned into a Battle Royale. Blossom and Brick duked it out on the streets, Buttercup and Butch engaged in sword play using street lights as weapons, and Bubbles and Boomer zapped each other with their laser eyes back and forth. This lasted at least half an hour until Blossom was slammed into the asphalt ground by Brick. Picking herself up, she noticed that some of the marines and local police were still hanging around.

"Get out of here!" she shouted at them. "We'll handle this!"

The officials all nodded in reply and shoved out of there. Brick flew towards Blossom as she shakily got to her feet.

"Feh, you're always sticking your neck out for somebody aren't you?" the red clad boy scoffed.

Blossom didn't care. With them out of the way, she and her sisters could freely deliver the Boys the ultimate smackdown without having to worry about hurting innocent bystanders. The Boys played as rough once the momentum began picking up again. Butch hurled a gas tanker at Buttercup, who easily dodged it before it landed on the ground and exploding upon impact. Then Boomer and Bubbles were trying to hurl various objects at each other from cars to traffic signal lights. Meanwhile, Blossom and Brick were still duking it out, crashing from building to building. Brick seemed to notice that his female counterpart was going all out this time.

"Heh, what's up, Red?" he chortled breathlessly. "Any love lost?"

Blossom just ignored him. He was going down tonight. Him and his brothers. As far as Blossom was concerned, the conflict between them and her sisters would end once and for all tonight. Nothing, not even the icy weather looming above would stop them.

Finally, at some point during their battle, the Powerpuff Girls and Rowdyruff Boys regrouped with their respective teams and launched another assault. The rift from the crossfire caused a quake in the area large enough to cause some of the buildings to collapse to the ground. The main center of the city was now a disaster area with glass, rubble, and debris covering the earth below their feet and flames licking at every surface they touched. Soon, the Powerpuff Girls were finding their energy being waned to something fierce and getting physically exhausted from their fight. Strangely enough however, the Rowdyruff Boys seemed to be showing no sign of fatigue.

"Damn, what does it take?!" Buttercup cursed.

"It probably has to do with the fact that HIM brought them back." Blossom surmised. "Girls, we'll probably have to unleash our greatest power with all the chemical X energy we've left in us. It might also kill us, are you up to it?"

There was a silence until Buttercup irreverently broke it.

"Ahh, fuck it already!" she ranted. "Retirement would've been boring anyway."

"I'm with you guys till the end." Bubbles proclaimed.

With that, they took the air once more in search of the male counterparts. The teams finally found each other in no time.

"Ya gettin' tired there, girlies?" Butch jeered.

"Suck on this, boys!" Buttercup ranted.

Then, all three of the Girls charged up a single powerball to launch at their rivals. As it grew larger and larger by each passing second, the Rowdyruff Boys felt inclined to launch their own projectile. With each of their powerballs nearly the size of a football field, the two teams launched them at each other.

And then, the city of Townsville was enveloped in a bright light.

X

X

X

X

X

2 weeks had passed. From the looks of it, it appeared that a nuclear bomb had dropped on the city. But it was merely Chemical X remnant energy that burned into the atmosphere. The entire main center section of Townsville was sealed off for safety reasons. Both the Powerpuff Girls and the Rowdyruff Boys were M.I.A. Townsville had yet to figure out what had become of their heroines. Finally, after some extensive planning, Ms. Bellum authorized a cleanup and search and retrieve mission in the sealed sector of the city. Men in biohazard-proof suits discovered that the entire area was blanketed in ash. As bulldozers came in to pile up the dirty powdery substance, one man found a shrapnel of clothing. It was pink fibers fused with red.

XXXXXXX

Watching the spectacle unfold comfortably from his dimension, was HIM. He was and wasn't surprised at the course of actions that took place. He however seemed to be caught off guard that it would end this way. But in the long run, HIM wasn't convinced that this was truly the end.

"**Hmpf. I told them not let their guard down and now look what has happened.**" he brooded.

The devil-like creature went deep into silence, continuing to watch the world through many screens.

"**I'll be content to wait. I want to be absolutely certain that the Powerpuff Girls are dead and gone.**"

XXXXXXX

Then, as the cleanup project continued and when it was just starting to snow, a hand suddenly popped out of a mound of ash and debris.

**=Finis=**

* * *

**AN: Yes, it is the end folks. I apologize if it didn't come out great because I'll be honest with you I just lost steam for this story T-T Perhaps I'll make a sequel sometime in the future. But thanks for reading and peace out!**


End file.
